There are only a few days left; the last notebooks, pens and markers; and then some ornaments, molds and small statuettes. At the Paoletta stationery shop in via Gorizia in Sestu these are truly last minute purchases because on the last day of the year it will close. After 45 years. "Now we are at the countdown, I am excited", says the owner Maria Paola Caredda , 67 years old, known to all as Paoletta , "Sometimes sad, sometimes happy". She started at 22; "I had lost my job in a factory, and I chose this. A cousin of mine was already working in a warehouse of various materials, and I threw myself into it". At the beginning she sold absolutely everything: "perfumes, wedding favors, but I started out as a stationery and gift shop, and I specialized a bit in that".

And her shop even today seems like a bazaar of a thousand wonders, especially for a child; these days many people stop by to say hello. A life like a passion, a symbol of an old-fashioned way of working: «I was married to the stationery shop, and I have no regrets», she says simply, but the customers have become family: «for me she is a sister», Maria Lai states with conviction. « An icon of Sestu », Caterina Aru even says, «I come to her even for a pencil, and I bring my friends from Cagliari». Shy, she doesn't like to appear, but she is there for everyone: «I was the aunt of many children, and the most beautiful thing was to hear the mothers say: “go to Aunt Paola”. I listen to the customers' stories, their confidences».

Simona Cossu, another customer, adds: «It has been a point of reference for years, it has always had everything that my daughter's school asked for. And it remembers anniversaries, for the communion it has never failed to leave a little gift». So, why close? «After so many years the desire is less, there are the first ailments. And then this work has become more complicated, before there were many warehouses of goods, and today almost everything has disappeared, while online sales advance. Technology has brought positivity but also problems». Paoletta has seen three generations of Sesto people: «Everything has changed, before we were more easily satisfied. But certainly people have also evolved a lot». Philosophical, reflective, she looks to the future with curiosity and hope. «Now I will do everything that until now I have denied myself», she says smiling; «for example, I will go out more». But for everyone, she will always be Paoletta or Aunt Paola.

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