"What Nathan and I came here to offer was our truth and our continued commitment to be the responsible, respectful, and loving parents that we are. And with this truth, in the midst of unbearable pain, we came here to lend a hand and ask to be heard and to be a family again ." This was said by Catherine Birmingham, who, together with her husband, Nathan Trevallion, parents of the "family in the woods," read a letter in English (which was translated immediately afterward) after meeting the President of the Senate, Ignazio La Russa, at Palazzo Giustiniani . The meeting, which took place at 12:30 pm, lasted about half an hour.
Then, addressing the cameras present, the mother of the so-called "children in the woods" added, in Italian and through tears, "Thank you from the bottom of my heart," expressing her "sincere and heartfelt thanks" to the President of the Senate for "having welcomed us and supported us." She explained that, together with her husband, they had "chosen Italy because it had the same values we wanted to raise our children with: family, love, being together, living and eating naturally, and above all, a life filled with love and peace where people support one another."
After the meeting, La Russa specified that he has "neither the right nor the intention to question the judicial authorities' decisions, nor do I want to justify Nathan and Catherine's lifestyle. I hope it will be useful to urge everyone, with my moral suasion, to eliminate everyone's rigidities and all rigidities in order to favor the return to a united family as much as possible." "I am very pleased to have learned that there is no objection on your part to the children being able to attend after-school activities, that the house be able to have the required sanitary facilities, and essentially that you are coming very close to the conditions necessary for a desired coexistence . I am firmly convinced that there is no greater happiness for children than being with their own father and mother, and that is what I wish for you and I hope will be possible by eliminating all existing rigidities," concluded the President of the Senate.
