Eyes to eyes Pierpaolo asks his wife to recognise him. She answers: 'You are my great friend'. Because of Alzheimer's, Elda often forgets that they are married, but they have loved each other for more than 70 years. In order not to face the disease alone with her, Pierpaolo had followed her even in the nursing home where he had decided to live with his wife: a difficult choice, to avoid being apart.
Their love has found a new home thanks to the Community of Sant'Egidio. A proper home where they can have family and medical care. This is what cohousing s all about: shared houses for the elderly - an initiative widespread in Rome and other cities, where those who find it difficult to live alone can find a fresh family environment with others, in which the costs of both living together and social and health care are shared.
Pierpaolo, recalling the moments of loneliness he experienced in the nursing home, said bluntly in the TG2 (RAI) interview: “Coming here was like moving from hell to heaven”.
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