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In her elderly years, Giuseppina longed for the foods (polenta and roast kid)
which she had eaten as a girl m Switzerland. She was able to recaU much of the Italian
language she had leamt at school, despite having used it only rarely since. During
visits to the old hotel at Blampied, she could not be persuaded to enter the dining-
room, previously her parents' bedroom and the family's lounge, it recalling too vividly
the happy days of her childhood which could not be recaptured.** Whhin the bar (once
the family's dining-room), however, a copy of the 1886 inventory and several
photographs of the family had been hung by the new owners, indicating that neither
they nor their clients wished to lose the memory of the Ticinese family who had
contributed so much, both economically and culturally, to their town for over 80 years.
Not only had the Lafranchis gained financial security and status as citizens of Australia,
but they had won the respect and admiration of future generations. This was also tme
of other Italian-speaking families, such as the Perini family of Spring Creek, whose
story foUows.
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