In search of the brother removed from the family 37 years ago. Gavina Addis launches an appeal, from her home in Bancali in Sassari, for Antonio, last seen at the age of two and a half, "to be seen and heard". “Social workers took him away in 1986,” says the 57-year-old, “a few months after my mother's death.”
It was Gavina, who was 16 years old at the time, who took care of the little boy, acting as his mother, looking after him and taking him to kindergarten where one day, when she went to pick him up, she discovered that he had ended up in the orphanage. And from there later, by decision of the juvenile court, he was adopted by a family from Campidano.
"Since then we have been looking for him", continues the woman, who also speaks on behalf of her brothers Vittoria and Andrea, "and I, as soon as I got married, asked for custody but was refused".
Gavina asked for help, even from the TV channels, including Maria De Filippi, to whom she addressed a letter. «After turning 18», Gavina wrote to the presenter, «Antonio was informed of the reasons for which he was given up for adoption. In fact, I'm afraid that now he hates us and doesn't want to see or hear us." It would have been an alleged lack of presence of the father that determined the decision to remove him. "But dad wasn't there much because he had to work to feed us."
Meanwhile, Gavina shows the framed image of her little brother, the only remaining evidence of his existence. " I would like him to know that even though he was taken away from us, we never stopped loving him," he declares without holding back his tears. He would like to tell him in person, perhaps right around this time. "We hope he will surprise us by showing up now that Christmas and the new year are approaching." But even if it doesn't happen, Gavina will continue her research because, she concludes, "I'm stubborn."
