A Broken Life [di Neil Coombs, 2008]

“Noi piangiamo pensando a ciò che avrebbe potuto succedere al posto di ciò che è successo, ma questa eventualità non esiste, non è mai esistita.” Cormac McCarthy

August in Platì this year was rather uneventful: only the roar of engines, rumbling in the chassis of motorbikes, their fumes spewing into the air, the whirring of fans from air conditioners struggling to keep the stubborn heat from creeping into the stone framed houses was heard in the sleepy town. However, a worth-of-praise initiative cannot be overlooked: a tragic event that shook the town in a morning of sixty years ago was remembered by the family involved with a religious celebration.   

An accident in the mountains, cries of alarm, a race towards safety, a torn life, the death of Trimboli Antonio, known as “parlinu”, son of Rosario and Francesca (neé Miceli), at the age of 35.  The pain of his widow and children brought the town together in a mourning that the theme music below strongly underlines.   Peppina Violi became the stoic widow everyone knew. Her boys Saro, Pasqualino, and Toto, now fatherless, were not left alone by the neighbouring kids:  Raimondo, Sarineiu, Tino, Gianni e Gino were always by their side, ready to do anything they could to brighten their days with the street games of bygone days. 

In these fast-paced days, where one day blends into the next like so many leaves on a tree, one becoming indistinguishable from another, it would perhaps be good for us to stop and think of bygone days.  In the comfort of our homes and family, away from the feeling of obligation, we should extend a glass of wine to those who walked the path before us.  If your Church allows it, celebrate a mass for the soul of lost loved ones.  In these ways, the stories and lives of our community will not have been lived in vain.

Trimboli Antonio Loreto, a muleteer (an uncommon profession nowadays), was born on the 10^th of December, 1923, to Rosario (aka u parlinu), 1866-1954, and Francesca Miceli(1883-1953).  The 30^th of January, 1947, he married Giuseppa Violi (b. April 11, 1925), daughter of Pasquale (aka u cocciularu), 1887-1962 and Maria Ciampa (1895-1984).  The Violis and Trimbolis were linked by two marriages: Maria, Antonio’s sister, had married Francesco Violi (also cocciulari) while Francesco, one of Antonio’s brothers, married Anna Violi (of the same family) before emigrating to Australia.  Also in Australia, Marianna Trimboli, daughter of Giuseppe u parlinu, the oldest of the Trimboli brothers, married Pasquale Violi u cocciulari, a brother of the above stated Violis. 

As it often happens, families were brought together through marriages due to a common craft, just as it happened in the Medieval guilds.  In fact, both the Violis and the Trimbolis were muleteers, travelling the same Aspromonte trails atop mules since many generations before.

Antonio Trimboli was a very active and well-known personality in Platì.  He was known amongst his fellow citizens for his vivacity and joy for life.  When a firm from Reggio Calabria was awarded the construction of a new road, which would connect Platì to the Valley beyond the mountains (known as “la Piana”), Antonio, along with many others in Platì decided to join the workforce assigned to the task. It seems that Antonio encountered some obstacles to get in as it was thought he already had a profitable job.  However, with the help of some recommendations, he was hired.  Antonio Trimboli died on the 27^th of July, 1959.  A lose boulder fell from the mountain and rolled down to the valley, crushing the young Antonio while working. He left behind a wife and five children, with a sixth on the way.

Photo & Text by Francesco di Raimondo