The above painting is by Theo Ramos
‘Josephine’ is 98 and came to England from Italy in 1948.
A summary of relevant parts of what Josephine says in her interview on video which is below.
Personal Credo - Josephine
To Josephine, “You live like the movement of water. We go with the flow, with nature. If the rain has to come the rain comes, you can’t do anything about it.”
Transcript
You live like the movement of water. We go with the flow, with nature. If the rain has to come the rain comes, you can’t do anything about it. There are a lot of things that we can’t have and we have to accept this. What do you want to worry about if you have enough to eat for the day. But you can’t just give up, you’ve got to have hope.
If you can do something about a problem, you can do it, and if you can’t, it’s a fact and you might as well accept it. You should keep your eyes open all the time. I got a job when I was 13 though the legal age (for getting a job) was 14. I made the decision for myself. I didn’t tell anyone and my employer trusted me, and said ‘you can start tomorrow’.
That is how it was when I came to London. I kept my own counsel and told no one till the night before I left Italy. From where I came from, at that time, no girls travelled.
It’s important to live as peacefully in life as you can. That’s what I did.
Coming to London was my dream and I fulfilled that.