Hers is a difficult story that began on the ship that brought her to Canada from Italy. For Rita Benacquista Stillo, author of the book The Gifts of Responsibility, her search for the meaning of life lasted over half a century, through family bereavements and the temptation to end it all. Today, though, she speaks of truth, spirit, and understanding – all necessary to attain peace and serenity amid the tempest.
Originally from Frosinone, Italy, Stillo – the youngest of six children – arrived in Canada with her family in 1959.
“I still remember celebrating my tenth birthday on the ship that brought us here,” the author tells Corriere Canadese/Tandem.
It wasn’t easy for her and her family to adapt to a new country and a new life: “We were very poor and experienced some very difficult moments. I was just a child, but I remember that we had to move several times during the first years.”
Despite that both her parents worked, it was very difficult for the entire family to build stability – this was also due to the fact that Stillo had to contend with a new language.
“As well as the economic problems, there was a lot of discrimination, which hurt me deeply,” explains Stillo. “It wasn’t exactly tied to the fact we were Italian, but we were discriminated against because we were immigrants.”
A particular episode that occurred when Stillo was 17 changed her life.
“I remember that my teacher told my mother to take me out of school. My teacher refused to continue having me as a student, claiming that it was all a waste of time and that I’d never learn English. That was the end of my scholastic career.”
Not even marriage helped Stillo overcome these traumas that were aggravated over the years with numerous family bereavements and by her two children’s adolescence problems.
When she was 40 years old, Stillo finally took her life into her own hands and decided to return to school.
“It was very difficult, but it helped me very much, and I learned that the search for truth is possible only through experience,” says Stillo.

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