I am the 2nd of Giuseppe and Patricia’s 8 children. You can always spot me in the family photos because, from the age of 4, I was made to wear the most tragic collection of bad spectacles ever seen on this earth. Then, before I was 5, Rita knocked my 2 front teeth out with a broom, tho I thpoke with a lithp for ages! The Tooth Fairy gave me “Thixty Thix Thents (66 cents), which Dad later claimed was supposed to help to cure me of my lisp. I guess I became the “class clown” in order to get some attention, which was a rare commodity in a big family and to be accepted. I ended up becoming House Captain and School Captain of St Ursula’s College and I know these leadership skills were inherited from my father.

My earliest memories of Dad were that we laughed LOTS. Whether it was playing “sega sega la gamba rizza” (see family songs and stories), or being rendered totally breathless by one of dad’s incredible twirly-whirlies. We always looked forward to him coming home when he finally finished work and didn’t have one of his many weekly meetings. Dad was always singing. He would teach us how to conjugate Italian verbs through song, and we always sang in the car on the way to “there and back to see how far it is”. Dad could never remember our names, but he would jumble them up. I was Ta-lo-re, and Isa was Bella-isa etc – he still does this with the grandkids. I remember being really impressed with how strong Dad was. He was a giant and I recall when he was doing the landscaping for the house in Arncliffe, he would just pick up massive boulders and shift them around the yard. He would then go to the fridge, grab a tallboy of Tooheys, down the lot in one breath and go back out and continue shifting boulders.

Growing up as an Italian kid in Sydney had its hazards. In fact, when the nuns in primary school told us “we don’t speak that language here,” Rita and I had decided that we would NOT speak Italian any more. We also recall spending our weekly pocket money to buy a girl at school a packet of violet crumbles every week, in order to prevent her telling everyone that she had discovered where we went every Saturday morning: “I saw youse going to that WOG SCHOOL”! It wasn’t until many years later, when Paul Hogan came up with the characters of Luigi the Unbelievable and Maria, his chunky assistant, that I was able to capitalise on the humourous side of being Italian. One of my school friends and I dressed up as these characters in a school show and it brought the house down. Dad thought it was hilarious – even though he didn’t recognize that it was his own daughter dressed up as Luigi. In fact, long before the movie Wog Boys came out, we had learnt that calling ourselves “wogs”, almost as a term of endearment, diffused the situation with the Skippies (Aussies). We had always been proud of our Italian heritage, but now, it was “cool” to be Italian. I thank Dad for that pride and for never giving up on keeping our Italian heritage alive.

After school, I went to the Conservatorium of Music. Music has been my life-long passion. I specialised as an Instrumental Music teacher and conductor and now write music for school ensembles. I was married young, to Pierre, a cellist from the Con. We had Claire in 1982 and Nick in 1983 and our little family moved to Brisbane, where Pierre had a job in the orchestra and the kids and I had fun painting, reading, visiting art galleries and playing in the park. Unfortunately, the marriage did not survive, but I’m happy to say that we have a lovely relationship with Pierre and his family.


I moved back to Sydney and in 1985, I met a Clarinettist, named Stephen. We moved to Brisbane (AGAIN!) and married in 1988. Apart from being the resident computer-guru of the family, Stephen now runs the Co-Curricular Music Department and I run the String Program at Somerville House Girls’ School in South Brisbane.

Claire and Nick have both lived overseas for the past few years. I miss them terribly and I hope they will soon see the light and return to the best place on earth. Nick is living in the Netherlands and Claire came home in 2008, only to meet and marry a Frenchman, named Laurent. Although they are still traveling the world, they gave me the best Mother’s Day present I have ever received – my gorgeous Granddaughter, Alséa Lily. I was at her birth, on May 10 2009 and she is such a treasure to me and Stephen. We are relishing the roles of Nonna and Nonno more than we could have ever imagined! She is also the first Great Grandchild of Giuseppe and Patricia Fin. 

 Happy 80th Birthday, Dad! 

 (Current at May 9 2010)

UPDATE: Giuseppe Fin passed away on August 4th 2018, 2 days after the birth of our 4th Grandchild, named Aurelia Giuseppina. Giuseppe had battled a form of leukemia and passed peacefully at home at the age of 88. His funeral was a huge celebration, also broadcast outside the church, which was overflowing with people who had known this great man. His passing was mentioned in Federal Parliament by Labour Leader, Anthony Albanese, who attended the funeral. Giuseppe Fin was loved by his family and friends and was renowned for his 60+ years of service to the Church and to the Italian community in Sydney. We miss him every day and now, my grandchildren and I remember him whenever we see a large black and white butterfly, known as the Nonno Beppi Butterfly. Riposa in Pace, Dad.