Carmela Delogu (nee Calleja aka Vassallo)

My mother (Carmela Delogu aka 'Vassallo' aka 'Calleja') is a great woman. She reached her 93rd year and died tonight in Concord Hospital. She was born in 1926 in Malta, and she spent most of her adolescence in bomb shelters during WWII. Her father is unknown, and her maternal grandfather was from Libya. She did not know about her grandfather until recently, when I made some genealogical inquiries. She married a musically talented man soon after the war and she had 5 children with him. I am the baby, being the last. In 1964, she flew half way across the world, with 4 of her 5 children, to settle in Australia, a country whose language or culture she did not know. A country that on the whole, has been very welcoming. Her first marriage ended in 1975. This was an unhappy time in her life, and for her family, which she worked through over time. She later remarried. She loved her children, grand-children and great grandchildren. She was genuinely bi-cultural. She was very Maltese and she loved Australia. I spoke with her almost exclusively in Maltese until today. I will miss our conversations.

Posted by Tony Vassallo 28/11/2018