Grandma Lucia turns 110: "Dear AS Roma, here’s what you mean to me"

Thanks to her family, she reached out and sent us her open letter. And it was not just about her life, it was also about her deep love for Roma.

Here is what she wrote.

Dear AS Roma,

My name is Grandma Lucia, but everyone calls me Grandma Piccola. I am writing to you as I am about to celebrate my 110^th birthday.

I believe I am one of the last witnesses of the past century. Although I lived through the tragedy of the Second World War, I also had the chance to experience many wonderful events. 

I was there, back in 1927, when you were founded. I was only a child, but as I grew up, so did my passion for these colours.

I remember Campo Testaccio, where I felt so many powerful emotions together with my husband Sirio, and starting from the Fifties at my beloved Stadio Olimpico, where my children Piero, Santina and Mariano grew up.

I still remember the scent of pizza with mortadella and the little wine bottles mixed with soda that I used to prepare to go to the Stadium on Sundays. I have many fond memories of you. In 1942 you won your first Scudetto, in the middle of the war. It was a huge joy for a city devastated by bombings.

The second league title came in 1983 with Paulo Falcao, Bruno Conti, Agostino Di Bartolomei and coach Nils Liedholm. The celebrations in Rome went on for weeks.

The third came in 2001, with Francesco Totti, Gabriel Batistuta, Vincenzo Montella, Marco Delvecchio and Fabio Capello as coach. I celebrated that league title win with my grandchildren who were adults and my first great grandchildren.

One of my most beautiful memories is of course him, Francesco Totti. My captain. The man who devoted his entire career to you, thus becoming a symbol of loyalty, talent and of the Roma spirit.

I wanted to share these memories with you, to tell you how much I love you, but I also wanted the new generations to read about my experience as a woman who has always supported Roma over the years, with every coach, with more and less talented teams.

Because you are not just a football team: you're a feeling that I have developed and passed on to my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.  

A feeling that will last forever, as will my passion for you.

Thank you for always being there for me.

With love, Grandma Piccola