22From Rome to the new destination of Como
Before I left for the new residence, my parents came to Rome to see me and I spent a couple of days in their company.
My mother, tender and affectionate, had brought me a wool pyjamas because I did not feel too cold during the night; I was used to a moderate climate, I would have been uncomfortable in that of Como. My father, for his part, did not know what to do, what advice to give me for the best accommodation and for many other things of various kinds. Yet he knew I was neither shy nor awkward, but I knew how to deal with men and things in the most varied circumstances of life.
It might seem exaggerated, but I understood my father more than my mother; mind you, in these respects, my mother was quite another thing. My father deserved respect
