Inspiring Women Winter 2017

I should avoid anyone involved in politics.
Thinking more about this, I think the woman I
most admire is the one who remains unsung.
She goes about her life doing her best in her
career or job, being a wife, raising her family,
volunteering or giving back to her community
and/or church in whatever way she can,
becoming a loving grandmother who tries to
impart her wisdom to her grandchildren, and
pushes forward regardless of the troubles of
whatever kind that we are all faced with. We
all know so many of those women, perhaps
even our mothers or grandmothers, who did
their best every day, whose parenting skills
they never thought they had, resulted in
happy, well-adjusted children who grew up to
be fine citizens.
Tell us something interesting about yourself
that not many people know. Not many
people know what an interesting life I have
been blessed to live. I moved to Europe when
I was barely twenty, on my own, determined
to have just that—an interesting life, rather
than a “career.” I was very fortunate to be
offered stimulating jobs in a variety of fields
and with so many different types of people,
and in 3 different countries. Even more
interesting, to me at least, is that the offers
keep coming to become involved in other
incredible projects. And for all that, I am so
very grateful. My jobs included running the
Treasury Attaché’s office at the Rome
Embassy, assistant to two American
Ambassadors (Republic of Italy; Embassy to
the Holy See), assistant director of the
American-Italian Fulbright Commission, and
translator of Pope John Paul II’s daily
speeches, etc., for the Church newspaper,
L’Osservatore Romano, which gave me deep
insights into the inner workings of the Catholic
Church, the Curia, and the Vatican. It was an
education that led to my involvement in a TV
series now in pre-production focused on the
Vatican, the CIA, and the Mafia and their
money-laundering activities. It is a true story
based on what I learned, the people I knew
and worked for, plus a book about a secret
Masonic Lodge (P2) and the US government
“Leave Behind“ program in Italy following
WWII. Believe me, it is a fascinating story that
has long waited to be told.
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