Italian Pensioner puts himself up for adoption to be one family's grandfather
This was a rather heartwarming story to read: An old widower, who lived alone with 7 cats after his wife passed away in 1992, started taking ads in the paper to seek adoption by a family as their grandfather. It sounds kooky and depending on the circumstances, a little creepy, as I read the story, I was drawn into the narrative.
I mean, the idea is a novel one, and there is something appealing about the thought that a nice but lonely old man can find himself company and a new role in life with another family, and perhaps feel useful again. I mean, in essence, it is sort of like an extension of a Big Brother/Big Sister type of deal, but with a more familial atmosphere.
Of course, he wasn't prepared for the amount of mail he would receive after being featured in a national news story, and he thought he wouldn't be able to sift through them all, but he found one that he liked(wasn't that in Sleepless in Seattle?). And so he finds himself moving from a two-room apartment to a home with a garden and a loving family, to live out the rest of his life as a father and grandfather.
Its a good story, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a movie of it within the next 5 years... either Italian or American.