I grew up in a dysfunctional, authoritarian and sexist family, says Paola Carosella

Chef Paola Carosella, 52, says she has been in therapy for 25 years and tries to provide her daughter, Francesca, 12, with an empathetic education. Because he says that his childhood wasn’t the best and that today he does everything he can to avoid reproducing the sexist and authoritarian environment he experienced at home.

“I grew up in a dysfunctional, authoritarian, sexist family. They were immigrants, with few resources, both financial and access to education. My father was bipolar and the situation got worse because the environment was violent. My mother worked outside the home and studied at night, He was depressed. He often locked himself in his room on Fridays and only came out on Sundays,” he said in an interview with the newspaper O Globo.

The cook lost her father when she arrived in Brazil, and her mother drowned in the swimming pool at home in 1999. “I carried the pain of her death for years. And I still have many corners to get out of the dark places. There are holes in the lives of those who You don’t have a family, especially when you’re an immigrant. But I’m a warrior and I filled those holes with friends, loves and my daughter.”

According to Paola, being a mother of a teenager is not difficult. “We get along well. Francesca and I have a beautiful relationship, I give an empathetic education. She is an exceptional human being. She likes musical instruments.”