The Life of Vicky Muscat

Vicky at the age of 37

Born: Mosta, Malta, 20 December 1932
Died: Westmead, Sydney, Australia, 10 February 2024

Vittoria Carmela Ann Tonna (later Muscat) was born at 8:45pm on 20 December 1932 in the country village of Mosta, Malta, at that time a British Crown Colony. Her birth certificate records the father as Joseph Tonna, age 33, whose occupation was “cartman”, and the mother as Carmela Tonna (nee Chetcuti), age 33, a “housewife”. The birth certificates says Carmela “declares she cannot write” and the same probably applied to Joseph. According to their marriage certificate, Joseph and Carmela were married in Mosta on 10 November 1918 and Joseph’s occupation is recorded as “agriculturer”.

Joseph and Carmela on their wedding day

Mosta was a country village near the centre of Malta famous for its massive rotunda church with a design based on the Pantheon in Rome. According to an article: “By 1815 the original parish church building had become too small for the village community … the popuation of Mosta at the time was 3,820”. Built with donations from the villagers between 1833 and the early 1860s, the rotunda or Mosta Dome as it is called “has the third largest unsupported dome in the world and is Malta’s largest and most famous Church”. This magnificent building was not built by a monarch or aristocrats but by a small village of poor peasant farmers, which testifies to their deep faith and devotion. Vicky was baptised in the rotunda and later received her first holy communion and confirmation there.

Mosta in the 1920s

          

By the time of Vicky’s birth, Joseph and Carmela already had four children who survived infancy, Francesco (Frank), Gamri (John Mary), Karmnu (Charlie) and Pawla (Paula). After Paula it appears they had twins named Vittoria and Tommaso (Thomas), but they both died in childbirth or shortly afterwards. However, the next girl that came along was given the name Vittoria and seven years later the name Tommaso (Tom) was given to the last child of the family. Vicky may have been named after relatives of her father, whose mother came from the neighbouring village Naxxar where the parish church is dedicated to Our Lady of Victories (Il-Madonna tal-Vitorija) in commemoration of the victory over the Ottoman Turks during the Great Siege of Malta in 1565. Naxxar played an important role during the Turkish attack on Malta. The name Vittoria appears to have been common in the town.

The family in the early 1950s, less Frank and Charlie, Vicky on the left

Vicky had a memory of crying when her father teasingly told her that she had missed out on coming with them to buy Tom from the shop because she was asleep. All the children were born at the family’s typical Mediterranean farmhouse on the outskirts of Mosta in St Margaret’s Street, which was passed down from Carmela’s side of the family. The sandstone building seems to have had long origins in history, with two bedrooms and a hallway out front separated from the back kitchen by an uncovered courtyard. The kitchen looked like a strongroom built as a refuge from Barbary pirates who regularly raided Malta in the 1500s and 1600s and carried Christians off into slavery. It had massive walls over a metre thick and heavy wooden doors held shut with steel bolts screwed into the walls and floor. The only window was a poke-hole measuring around fifteen square centimetres. The house was surrounded by fields and rows of cactus. Pens or stalls holding a mule and goats were connected to the house around the courtyard while sheep and chickens were kept in stalls further away.

The farmhouse as it looked in the 1980s

Vicky grew up with three older brothers and told stories of the rough horseplay she was subjected to as a child. Once she was persuaded to step on to the open palms of a brother who catapulted her into the air, causing her to spin head over heels and fall heavily to the ground. In Malta people were known by their nickname more than their given name and somewhere along the line Vicky picked up the nickname “Lola”.

At around the age of five Vicky started school at the local Mosta public school, but was only able to complete two years of schooling before war broke out in 1939. All of the schools remained closed during the war. She told stories of her brothers getting up to mischief at school and their harsh treatment from the teachers. A few times her mother went down to confront the school master over this. Because Vicky only had two years of education, her reading and writing were never top level but she was able to write well enough in Maltese to send letters to her family after she emigrated to Australia. Even though it was a compulsory subject in Maltese schools, she learned hardly any English before arriving in Australia. Gradually she learned to speak broken English by trial and error but she struggled with written English for the rest of her life.

Vicky as a teenager

During the Second World War, particularly from 1940 to 1943, Malta was “the most heavily bombed place on earth”. As a vital British supply port for the North African campaign, the island’s harbours and airfields were continuous targets of German and Italian aircraft. Because of the Royal Air Force airfield nearby at Ta Qali, a large number of stray bombs landed on Mosta. At 4:40pm on 9 April 1942 one German bomber dropped a 50 kilogram high-explosive bomb which pierced the rotunda’s dome. A congregation of 300 people were waiting for early evening mass. Vicky claims her father’s brother Santo was amongst them. However the bomb failed to explode, which many villagers considered a miracle.

Hole in ceiling of Mosta Dome created by German bomb

At the beginning of the war there were no formal air raid shelters so Malta’s people had to look after their own protection. Vicky recalled the family standing knee deep in water down a well to escape the bombs during a heavy raid. She recalled that in one raid the family forgot to bring infant Tom down and someone had to go back to the house and get him. These were years of scarcity as Malta was subjected to maritime blockade. But the family got by on produce from their farm. Vicky remembered the many refugees from the heavily bombed city areas around Valletta who flocked to country villages like Mosta in search of food. Her mother Carmela generously handed out soup and vegetables whenever possible. At one point a stray German bomb landed on the front rooms of the family’s farmhouse which were partially demolished, but no one was injured. Vicky remembers that her sister Paula always rushed to bomb sites to see the damage, which sometimes included multilated and splattered bodies. Vicky accompanied her once but was too disgusted to go again.

Wartime destruction in Malta

When the war ended Vicky was around 12 years of age and did not return to school. She was given various jobs to supplement the family’s income. One of these was doing the rounds of the village in the early hours of the morning before daily mass at 4:00am with a couple of goats. Half-asleep, she had to endure the bitter cold of the winter months. She would knock on doors and be handed a can to fill with fresh goat’s milk. Vicky admitted that on some occasions the goat defecated into the can during the milking. She quickly scooped out the faeces before the customer noticed.

Unsurprisingly, brucellosis, a fever “caused by ingestion of unpasterurized milk from infected animals, or close contact with their secretions” was so prevalent in Malta that it also goes by the name “Malta fever”. Vicky contracted a serious bout of brucellosis as a young teenager and was in danger of losing her life. No doubt this had something to do with close proximity to the goats on her milking rounds or the livestock pens at home. She recovered from the fever in a very skinny condition and retained a thin figure up until she had children. She remained fastidious about food including a lifelong dislike of milk and eggs. She only ever drank Carnation canned milk.

The family’s main income was from a farm 4 kilometres away to the west of Mosta (Ghajn Rihana) where Joseph grew potatoes, pumpkins and fruits like peaches. One of Vicky’s regular chores was to deliver Joseph’s lunch, a journey she made on foot over rough ground in all sorts of weather. Another chore was carrying a tray of her mother’s Sunday cooking on foot to the communal oven in the centre of Mosta, around 2 kilometres away. Vicky hated this and was embarrassed by the catcalls of village men along the route. Having delivered the food for cooking, she then had to make a second trip later and bring the cooked meal home. Eventually she refused to go and had raging arguments with Carmela, who was a strong authority figure. Vicky was a strong-willed personality and seems to have often been at loggerheads with her equally strong-willed mother. But Vicky was also considered outgoing and she loved to talk and joke. When a visitng nun asked Vicky if she ever considered entering a convent, her father replied “she would chase all the sisters out”.

During one trip to the communal oven Vicky was attacked by a dog which left her with a lasting fear of the larger breeds.

Studio portrait of Vicky after she emigrated to Australia

As an older teenager Vicky found work as a domestic servant for a woman called Giola ta’ Matti, the wife of an upper class family who lived on Mosta’s fashionable street. The work included scrubbing the floors on her knees and washing clothes by hand. It appears the pay was just a pittance. There wasn’t much scope for after-work fun as Vicky’s mother kept a tight rein on her social life. Conditions in Malta were still grim due to the wartime destruction. There was a wave of mass migration to places like Australia and Canada. In 1949 older brother Charlie was one of the thousands who took up the Australian Government’s assisted passage migration scheme. Vicky turned 21 in 1953 and decided she had enough of domestic service. She wanted to join her brother Charlie in Australia. Emigration was unusual for a single woman and her parents opposed the idea. But Vicky was fiercely independent and determined to emigrate. Again she was at loggerheads with Carmela but eventually her father, a gentle man by nature, gave in and reportedly said “let her go and find her fortuna”.

SS Castel Felice

Although only 15 years old, Tom decided to emigrate to Australia with Vicky and they booked their third class passage on the Italian Sitmar Line passenger ship SS Castel Felice, due to leave Malta for Australia just before Christmas 1954. However, Tom came down with a fever and his departure was delayed, forcing him to take a later ship. Vicky did embark on the Castel Felice with just 10 pounds assisted passage and settled into her cabin in steerage on the bottom level of the ship. Apart from the Maltese, most of the passengers were Italians who had embarked earlier, headed for a new life in Australia. At first many passengers were overtaken with sea-sickness and some vomit spilled onto the cabin floors. Vicky recalled that the angry crew members sent to clean up the mess uttered a stream of Italian curses including the word “maiali” (pigs). On the ship Vicky was free to be herself, an outgoing young woman, and she formed bonds with people like her friend Theresa which lasted a lifetime.

The Castel Felice stopped at Port Said and Aden, where Vicky recalls poor children on the dock scrambling for coins thrown from the ship, then at Fremantle and Melbourne followed by disembarkation at Sydney’s Walsh Bay docks on 26 January 1955. She was met by Charlie at the wharf. Vicky moved into the cottage belonging to Charlie and his wife Rose in Little Arthur Street in inner-city Balmain, where many Maltese and other Southern European migrants settled. She became a loved family member and aunty to Charlie's children at that time, Carmen and Brian.

Vicky with Brian, Carmen and Charlie

Maybe it was because she washed clothes for Giola ta’ Matti that her first job was as presser at a laundry operated by a Mr West in Rozelle. She earned a good wage and sent some of each paycheck back to her parents in Malta, something she continued to do until getting married. Mr West was later disappointed when Vicky decided to leave his employment for a position as presser in the laundry of the Hotel Australia, Martin Place, Sydney’s most prestigious hotel. He offered her more money but she preferred the job at Hotel Australia, where her brother Charlie worked. Vicky recalled that the workload was non-stop and conditions in the hotel’s laundry were hot and steamy. She needed a jug of drinking water beside her at all times to prevent dehydration.

Hotel Australia

After he arrived from Malta later in 1955, her younger brother Tom moved into Charlie’s Balmain house as well. Vicky felt personally responsible for Tom’s welfare and did her best to ensure he found a suitable job and stayed out of trouble.

Vicky, Carmen and Tom

Vicky could at last make friends and enjoy the social life that Sydney had to offer. She dressed in the latest fashions and was a keen dancer, frequently attending popular nightspot the Tracodero Dance Hall in George Street. By 1958 she must have felt it was proper to get married and became engaged to a man of Maltese background. However, one night at the Tracodero she met 31-year-old Emanuel Muscat from Dingli, Malta, and soon broke with her fiancé. She started going out with Emanuel and they in turn became engaged. 

The Tracodero Dance Hall, George Street, Sydney

Vicky and Emanuel, front on the right, enjoy a night on the town

Vicky in front of 25 Pashley Street, Balmain

Vicky and Emanuel at their engagement

They were married on 16 January 1960 and their Certificate of Marriage completed by Father Rudolph Scerri, a Maltese priest, states:

I hereby Certify that I have this day at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, duly celebrated Marriage between Emanuel Muscat, Bachelor, Driver, of 167 Cathedral Street, East Sydney and Victoria Tonna, Spinster, Presser, of 25 Pashley Street, Balmain NSW, after declaration duly made before me as by law required.

Charlie gave Vicky away at the wedding and Tom was one of the witnesses who signed the marriage certificate. The ceremony started at 5:30pm followed by a reception at Balmain Masonic Hall, 6 Montague Street, Balmain.

With Charlie and Tom before the wedding and Emanuel's brother Paul

Vicky and Emanuel at their wedding reception

The wedding party on the steps of St Mary's Cathedral

Emanuel moved in with Vicky who at this time was living in Pashley Street, Balmain, the home of her cousin Joe Chetcuti and his wife Censa. Emanuel was also given a position at the Hotel Australia as a porter and barman. Vicky gave birth to their first child Carmel, better known as Charles, at St Margaret’s Hospital, Darlinghurst on 30 October 1960. Vicky recalled that it was a difficult and strenuous labour. In 1961 Vicky and Emanuel bought and moved into their own house at 19 Parsons Street, Rozelle, an attached, single-fronted brick cottage not far from White Bay Power Station.

When Tom married Colleen O’Brien in January 1961 she was led down the aisle by Emanuel. Tom and Colleen had four children together, and the second child was named Vicky after her aunty and godmother.

With baby Charles

The birth of Charles within ten months of their marriage suggests Vicky and Emanuel planned to have a large family. They agreed that Vicky would dedicate herself to full-time homemaking. After moving to Parsons Street, Emanuel found a better paid job as a fork-lift operator with a transport firm and he took on additional duties to supplement the household income. Overnight from late Saturday to early Sunday he drove a truck delivering newspapers to newsagents across Sydney. Sadly, Vicky suffered two miscarriages after giving birth to Charles. These must have been a blow given her hopes for a large family. After she had a surgical dilation and curettage (D&C) procedure, John was born on 6 August 1963 and then after passage of four years Robert was unexpectedly born on 29 May 1967. It is a matter for speculation whether these fertility problems were linked to Vicky’s case of brucellosis as a teenager. She may have been disappointed on never having had a daughter, but when the subject came up, Vicky denied it and said she was grateful for three healthy sons.

Vicky and the boys

Whatever the relationship between Vicky and her mother Carmela back in Malta, Vicky appears to have copied Carmela’s high standards for how a mother should behave. All the indications are that Vicky followed her own mother’s example. This was to be expected since she had no mother around to consult for guidance. Sometimes she liked to quote some of Carmela’s favourite sayings. Like Carmela, Vicky was anxiously protective of her children and was shocked, for example, by events like the kidnap and murder of 8 year old Graeme Thorn in 1960. She and Emanuel shared a strong family ethic and life revolved around joint activities like visits to friends and relatives and going to church on Sundays. The children were always well dressed in public and great care was taken with their school uniforms.

Still, three boys could be a handful with Emanuel away so often at work. Vicky had to put up with them making fun of her broken English when she said things like “do what I told” or “swall it” if they over-chewed their food. They naturally spent a lot of time watching television together. Vicky was a big fan of the American actor Robert Taylor, never missing his show Robert Taylor’s Detectives. Her youngest son was probably named after him. She became an avid follower of American daytime soap operas like Days of Our Lives, General Hospital and later The Young and The Restless. School holidays included at least one bus trip into the city. Vicky would pay some bills, do some shopping and take the boys for a treat at the Grace Brothers cafeteria. Emanuel’s work commitments meant Vicky was running the household. She was a careful manager of the family budget.

Vicky began to show outstanding skills as a cook, also apparently learnt from her mother. She believed, almost obsessively, in the Mediterranean ideal that wives had a duty to prepare the highest quality of meals for their husband and children. Most of her cooking was Maltese cuisine, virtually a type of regional Italian, using tomato sauces, garlic, various types of pasta with meat dishes such as spaghetti and macaroni, boiled or baked, sometimes baked in a pie, stews, especially of rabbit which is a Maltese specialty, the rabbit was fattened and killed at home, vegetable soups and broths like Maltese minestrone, and the list goes on. She perfected desserts like bread pudding, custards and others she invented. Sometimes she cooked Australian meals like steak and eggs. Vicky liked to experiment and her delicious repertoire grew over the years. She spent hours on her feet in the kitchen. The family and visitors found they had no choice but to eat the loaded plates they were served. The words “I’m not hungry” or “only give me a little” were not in Vicky’s vocabulary.

The Sunday routine consisted of Emanuel sleeping in after his overnight paper run while Vicky took the children to mass at St Joseph’s Church, Rozelle. In the afternoon they drove out to Merrylands where Vicky’s brother Charlie was now living with his larger family of six children. Vicky and Charlie had similar outgoing personalities and enjoyed talking uproariously and telling dirty jokes. Some children of the two families were of comparable age and were close cousins. Occasionally Tom and his family came along as well, especially at Christmas time. Emanuel usually brought his saxophone and accompanied by Charlie and Brian on the piano accordian they played popular tunes of the time.

Despite limited finances Vicky was determined that the kids would be educated at the local Catholic schools, the local St Joseph Rozelle Primary School and the Balmain Christian Brothers High School. She became close friends with other Maltese women in the area with similarly aged children at these schools, like Paula Cassar and Doris Zarb. They often met while shopping and visited each others’ homes. Vicky loved to share her cooking with others. The latest episodes of Days of Our Lives and General Hospital were always a hot topic of conversation. Although parents picking up their children from the schoolyard tended to separate into ethnic groups, Vicky was happy to talk to anyone and was popular with many of the Australian mothers.

A while later Vicky received news that her father Joseph in Malta had a mild stroke. She and Emanuel felt it was time to visit the families they hadn’t seen for almost fifteen years. On 5 July 1969 the family boarded a Qantas V-Jet and flew to Malta for a three month stay. It was an emotional experience for Vicky to be reunited with her parents, brothers and sister. A lot of the holiday was spent at the farmhouse in Mosta amongst the goats, sheep and chickens. Her oldest brother Frank had five children and she was always close to her brother Gamri, who had entered the Jesuit Order before Vicky left in 1954. Stretching over a sunny Maltese summer, the holiday was always remembered fondly. Many tears were shed when it was time to leave. The family arrived back in Sydney on 13 September 1969.

Vicky in Malta, 1969, with her mother, the boys and nieces Grace & Jennifer

With the boys in Malta, 1969

Life returned to normal at home and work. However, after Vicky’s father and then mother died within 6 months of each other in 1971, she seems to have experienced some type of homesickness and a feeling that she needed to recover something lost. Like many immigrants, she felt torn between the old and the new country. Vicky yearned to go back and live in Malta for good. Emanuel understood and the house in Parsons Street was sold. The family flew out to Malta on 22 May 1972, this time not planning to return. They moved in with Vicky’s sister Paula who now lived alone in the family farmhouse.

While Emanuel found a factory job and put his building skills to work renovating the farmhouse, Vicky took care of the household and relieved Paula of the worry. Before long Vicky’s outgoing pesonality became a feature of the street. The front pavement became an open meeting place where local women gathered to talk and laugh, mostly listening to Vicky’s funny stories and jokes. As usual Vicky forged some strong friendships and became very close to Guza and her husband Kelinu who lived a couple of houses up and others along the length of Tal-Wej Road (as Margaret Street was now called). She was always generous in sharing food and helping anyone in need. As a close confidante of her brother Gamri she organised a party in 1973 to celebrate his twentieth anniversary in the Jesuit Order. When, shortly afterwards, he confided to her that he decided to leave the religious life she gave him her full support. In 1974 Vicky’s brother Charlie and his family had now left Merrylands in Australia and also settled in Malta permanently.

Robert's First Holy Communion, Mosta Church, 1974

Over time, however, Emanuel and Vicky rethought their decision to settle in Malta. The standard of living was lower than Australia and many locals seemed to resent returned migrants, including some of Emanuel’s co-workers at the factory. It dawned on them that their children might return to Australia when they got older. Eventually they decided to go back, which was probably a relief to Emanuel. This time they chose to travel by sea. On 27 August 1974 the family boarded the Lloyd Triestino SS Guglielmo Marconi which stopped at the Canary Islands, Cape Town, Fremantle and Melbourne before docking at Circular Quay in Sydney on 28 September 1974.

SS Marconi at Circular Quay, Sydney, 1974

They stayed with Emanuel’s sister at Guildford while searching for a new home and Emanuel returned to his old job. His own preference was for a larger house with a garage in the suburbs. But Vicky craved familiarity and was drawn back to the place she knew so well, inner-city Rozelle. Emanuel was a dedicated husband and understood Vicky’s vulnerabilities. As it happened a house at 4 Maney Street, Rozelle, another attached single-fronted cottage, became available for rent and they bought it a few months later. The boys were re-enrolled in the local Catholic primary and secondary schools.

The family picked up where they left off in 1972. But this time the Sunday family outings involved long drives to picnic reserves like Carss Park near Kogarah Bay or Woronora Dam south of Sydney. They usually met up with Emanuel’s sister Tessie and her husband Alfred, Vicky’s cousin Joe Chetchuti and his wife Censa, and Joe’s brother Sam and his wife Helen. Sometimes other relatives came along. The families all had children of roughly the same age. After eating the barbecued meat and food from home, the men played cards while the women talked and laughed. As usual Vicky would tell her dirty jokes. The latest episodes of Days of Our Lives and The Young and the Restless probably came up. In 1977 her sister Paula came to Australia for a three month stay and was warmly received by Vicky’s circle of friends.

The boys progressed in their education and began entering the workforce. Vicky was proud of their professional achievements and made sure she remained a strong presence in their lives, no doubt copying her mother Carmela. Their wives were warmly welcomed into the family and soon found that for Vicky food was an expression of love. That’s why they were served far more than they could possibly eat. By the end of 1986 all the boys had completed their studies and the family (except Charles) visited Malta again for a short stay. Vicky caught up with her brother Charlie, for the last time as it turned out as he died soon after, and his children and their families. By this time Gamri had married and Vicky was delighted to meet his wife Cettina and two daughters, Carmen and Marcon. She caught up with the many friends she had made in Tal-Wej Road back in the 1970s.

Visiting Malta in 1986, brother Gamri, his wife Cettina, their daughters Carmen & Marcon, and her sister Paula

On 1 June 1989 Vicky and Emanuel were proudly sworn in as Australian citizens at a group ceremony performed by the Mayor of Leichhardt.

Vicky and Emanuel in line at citizenship ceremony

                                             

They were devout parishioners at St Joseph’s Rozelle for almost all of their married life. Their children were baptised and received other sacraments there. Vicky was active in the parish, volunteering for activities like cleaning the church, replacing the altar flowers and arranging refreshments for a monthly gathering. These were often performed with her friend Pauline Galea. She developed close relationships with some of St Joseph’s priests, like Fr Leslie Bagot and members of the Missionary Society of St Paul, a Maltese order who ran St Josephs in the 1980s and 1990s. Later Fr Barry Dwyer became a close friend of the family. It helped that her home in Maney Street was right next to the Church. Vicky helped with washing the vestments and they all enjoyed the blessing of her cooking. She was also active in the social life of the parish, popular with people of all ethnicities for her warmth and humour.

Offertory procession at St Joseph's

Vicky had a lifelong devotion to Our Lady of Graces, whose sanctuary is in the Maltese town of Zabbar. Vicky prayed to her for aid in times of worry. Anyone travelling to Malta was given donation money for Zabbar’s parish priest and they were asked to bring back some holy cards of Our Lady of Graces, which Vicky handed out to her loved ones.

Emanuel and Vicky liked to sign up for group tours to places like regional Victoria and the Gold Coast with friends, and as the mortgage on Maney Street was paid off they travelled overseas more often. In June 1991 they flew to North America visiting Vicky’s cousins in California and Emanuel’s brother in Canada. Then from July to September 1994 they visited Malta again, fitting in a pilgrimage to sites in France, including Lourdes, and then Spain. Another trip to Malta followed from March to May 2002. Emanuel and Vicky returned to Malta from May to August 2005, having been given the task of selling Emanuel’s family home in Dingli.

Emanuel had retired in 1998 at the age of 70 and together their routine included shopping at favourite malls, bingo at Petersham RSL with a Maltese group, visiting, and inviting family and friends around for meals.

In the meantime, Vicky and Emanuel experienced the joy of becoming grandparents when Robert’s wife Marianne gave birth to Alexander in 2002. They then had two daughters, Dominique born in 2005 and Isabella in 2006. Vicky’s strong sense of family obligation now extended to babysitting the grandchildren when necessary. Their birthdays joined the list of special occasions at Maney Street when Vicky cooked a meal for family or friends.

With Emanuel, sons, daughter-in-law Vicky and grandkids

With the grandkids

Because she cared about the tastes of each individual, Vicky would end up preparing as many types of dishes as there were people around the table. If one grandchild only ate skinless sausages or another loved spaghetti, if one daughter-in-law loved stuffed eggplant or another preferred pasta, if one guest liked rice but another preferred bread, if one son liked sweets or another stuck to fruit salad, it didn’t matter. Everyone was looked after. There was a wide range of dishes to choose from: fried chicken, lamb chops, beef steak, fried rabbit, susages of all sorts, kidney, fried or boiled fish, rabbit or beef stew, every type of sauce or gravy, pizza, pumpkin pie, steak and kidney pie, racotta cheese pie, macaroni, ravioli, lasagne, spaghetti, macaroni baked in pastry, stuffed eggplant, vegetable soup, chicken soup, fish soup, sponge cake, fruit cake, and even more. Vicky was proficient in all of them.

Sharing a meal at home with Emanuel's brother Paul and his wife Bice, and his sister Tessie

Every Christmas she baked around 20 fruit and nut cakes which were distributed to friends and became a much anticipated tradition.

She had a special talent for cooking delicious food which her family and guests cherished as a great experience. Nobody ever tasted her cooking without leaving amazed at how such a meal could have been prepared by one untrained person at home. But this is one of the ways that Vicky showed her love.

Grandson Alexander enjoying Nanna's macaroni

On their 50th wedding anniversary, 16 January 2010, Vicky and Emanuel renewed their marriage vows in a ceremony at St Joseph’s celebrated by Fr Barry. A function at a local restaurant followed, attended by a crowd of family and friends. This was a happy occasion and they were clearly still as dedicated to each other as on their wedding day.

50th anniversary renewal of marriage vows with Fr Barry

Due to advanced age, Emanuel lost his drivers licence in 2017. Vicky had never learnt to drive. This restricted their mobility and they had to give up many of their social activities. In March 2019 Emanuel fell at home and was unable rise. When this happened a second time, he was taken to hospital and moved to permanent residence in a nursing home. Vicky and Emanuel were a devoted couple who had never been apart during their married life. This separation broke Vicky’s heart but she could not be persuaded to leave her beloved home. Even though Emanuel was visited regularly, she clearly had trouble coping with his absence. Showing signs of early dementia, she started talking to wall photographs and people on television.

50th wedding anniversary celebration

An injury to her left ankle some years earlier made her unsteady on her feet. On 26 February 2021 she fell over at home and fractured her right hip. While the surgery to repair the fracture was successful, the accident accelerated Vicky’s dementia. On doctor’s orders she too was moved to permanent residential care in a nursing home, but not the same facility caring for Emanuel. Her memory for the whole period since leaving Malta in 1955 appeared to have been wiped out. By the time Emanuel died in January 2022, she had lost all awareness of him. In her mind she seemed to be living in Malta with her mother, father and siblings. She often asked “is my mother coming?”

Nevertheless she seemed to appreciate visits from her family, and the nursing home staff observed that she was a mother hen to other residents, always urging them to finish their meal. As the staff found if they tried to wash her at the wrong time, Vicky remained a strong-willed personality to the very end.

She appeared to relish the gathering of family and friends at the nursing home to celebrate her 90th birthday in 2022.

Vicky and family at her 90th birthday celebration

In the early morning of 8 February 2024 a blood clot cut off the flow of blood to her right leg, effectively killing it. For a person of her age with heart and kidney problems, there was no possibility of treatment. She passed away peacefully on 10 February 2024, a much loved mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, aunty and friend, after having received the last rites in the presence of her sons.

Vicky’s gift for creating a ring of love around the dining table will live long in the memory of family and friends for whom it will endure as a precious legacy.

“Moses said unto Aaron, take a pot, and put an omer full of the manna in it, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations” (Exodus 16:33)

Related item: The Life of Emanuel Muscat