A daily commitment to be increasingly autonomous, have an independent life and, perhaps, one day, get married. A dream that comes true every day for Federica Cuboni and Giovanni Mereu , boys from Ogliastra with Down syndrome. Fall in love and be loved. Parents and siblings, friends and two entire communities walk alongside the boys. Being the same age, they met as children while doing physiotherapy, they lost touch due to logistical issues - he is from Villagrande Strisaili, she from Lanusei - then they met again thanks to an association that they both frequented. They are in love, engaged and hoping for marriage.
Meanwhile, families continue to work to give children more and more tools, to make them increasingly independent. Giovanni, 26 years old, a hotel graduate from Tortolì who he reached by bus, after two seasons in a cafeteria, has been working as a bartender at L'Altura, a service station on state road 389, since 2019. Precise and methodical, he has also learned things that he wasn't very good at things, such as paying bills or understanding irony and not taking everything literally, and he also found time to dedicate to his community and to the Strisaili voluntary association. He works five days a week, plays sports, goes out independently and takes his commitments very seriously, preparing himself from the evening before, never forgetting to write or call Federica .
«Giovanni likes contact with the public - says his mother, Rosa Floreddu - it's the job he wants to do. Autonomy is what we focused on most, he has two brothers and for them too we tried to make him as independent as possible. They are the architects of Giovanni's autonomy, together with people, such as his schoolmates who have always treated him as an equal. Despite our fears, we tried not to deny him anything, let him have his own experiences, perhaps adjusting the aim if necessary. When they are born they keep telling us he won't do this, he won't do that so it's easy to get discouraged, but it's possible that they will achieve their goals ."
Federica turns 26 on October 21st. She also has a large family behind her who supports her and encourages her to become increasingly independent. Graduated from art high school, at the moment she prefers not to work in the family business. . In the structure she fearlessly tackled each of the tasks assigned to her. At home she is independent, she contributes to keeping the house tidy even if she prefers to postpone it to watch TV series and listen to music.
