‘Life is so much better now’

When I found an e-mail from my old school headmistress in my inbox, the first thought that came to mind was: but I wasn’t late for assembly, no?

Having lived around the corner from Immaculate Conception School, Tarxien, I was always the last student in after the morning bell.

But Sister Maria Antonietta Attard was a disciplinarian with a sense of humour.

I am fully aware that when I was young, people aged 84 had no opportunities whatsoever

“Chetcuti, I see you rolled out of bed earlier than usual today,” she would say as, for the umpteenth time, I tried to slink into my place unnoticed.

I had not seen Sister Antonietta since the day I left school, a couple of decades ago. She is now 84, but her vitality, quiet joyfulness and positivity are still intact.

When we meet she greets me with her unmistakable Italian accent – she worked as a teacher for more than 10 years in Italy – “Kristina, cara”.

Her memory is impeccable. She remembers each and every one of her past students and she wants to tell me about her latest project: an old pupil’s association.

“The idea is to meet friends, talk about school days. Recalling youth is always a happy time.”

Not that she is one to be nostalgic about her youth.

“Of course, I was younger and stronger and could jump about but I am fully aware that when I was young, people aged 84 had no opportunities whatsoever,” she says, adding that these days she works actively at the Archbishop’s Curia.

She is IT literate, fully conversant with mobile phones and is looking forward to her two-year-old nephew teaching her how to use the iPad.

“These technological gadgets are gifts of the Lord and we have to make good use of everything. We cannot fear or be suspicious of change,” she says.

When she was a young girl – one of 21 siblings – education was available only for the few. “My first thesis was on education in Malta. In the 1950s there were only 11 primary schools.”

The opportunities for senior citizens today are manifold, she says.

Her only worry on education is that we are doing away with learning by rote.

“That is not good. You have to exercise the memory.”

She is also concerned that we are sidelining Shakespeare in school: “He was the teacher of the world: he figures out the nature of man in his 37 plays. How can we not teach him at schools?”

She thinks that the world is better today because it shows what it is; it does not hide.

“In the past, if you heard shouting in the street, everyone would be shutting the windows, lest they’re summoned as witnesses. Today, everyone comes out and offers help.

“We care more. Everything used to be done in secret,” she says.

She became a novice at 18, inspired by nuns tending lovingly to the wounded during World War II.

Her mother initially scoffed the idea: “Last week, you told me you wanted me to shorten your girl guide uniform skirt and now you want to be a nun?”

But so she did and went on to teaching college, with her then cumbersome Sisters of Charity dress tucked in her belt for PE lessons.

“I was not going to miss out on PE and it was unthinkable to wear shorts at the time, so you adapt.”

Which is a summary of her mantra: life is what you make it: “Make it a dull one and it will be dull.”

She has certainly embraced her old age: you are as old as you feel.

And if life has taught her anything it’s to speak out: “Always dish out what you have to say. Do not hold anything inside.”

The secret of a fulfilling life is the sense that there is the security that God loves her: “Nothing happens by chance. I follow God’s path for me.”

Before I leave, she tells me how excited she is that the wheels are turning for the setting up of the past pupils association. “It will be a joyful meeting. Come, Kristina cara.”

Undoubtedly, I’ll be late.

The first meeting of the Immaculate Conception Past Pupil’s Association will be held on April 30 at the school premises in Tarxien. All past pupils are invited.