Life's a Pinata

Filled with humor, joy, and pathos, Rosella's story starts during the Great Depression when she is born into a childhood of deprivation and christened with a name that is never remembered, always mispronounced, and will be the bane of her being.

Raised by a mother who believes in miracles and a father who never doubts that everything will be okay, Rosella anticipates a typical 1950s future: one husband, several children, a house in the suburbs, and eventually, a gaggle of grandchildren and a golden wedding anniversary. But, fate steps in and fills her life with unexpected surprises: failed marriages, thirty-five household moves from California to the East Coast to the Italian Riviera, personal losses, hard-earned gains and, along the way, a series of quirky events.

Alone in middle age, Rosella catches the tail end of the 1960s movement, fully embracing meditation, yoga, and the changes in attitudes about gender roles and marriage. With her newly discovered empowerment, she finally finds happiness and love, only to lose it too soon. As a senior citizen, she moves to Italy and, while in the country of her ancestry, comes to terms with her feelings about family, loneliness, and aging.