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A few years ago, Anna Pensa was surprised to learn from officials at the U.S. embassy in Rome that because she had been born in the United States, her two Italian-born children were both eligible to become American citizens - as long as they did so before turning 18.

The clock was ticking. Although her son, Eustachio, was then still a few years away from his 18th birthday, the process for obtaining citizenship is a lengthy and time-consuming one.

In a telephone interview from her godmother's Milford home, Anna explained that she decided to take the steps necessary to secure her children's birthright because, as she put it: "I'm proud to be an American."

She added, in Italian-accented but quite proficient English: "And even for opportunities in the future, who knows? Maybe for their studies, for work, for a master's degree in university."

After a mountain of paperwork and more than a year of waiting, Eustachio - who turns 18 this month - and Marilou, 16, took the oath of citizenship on June 11 at the John F. Kennedy Federal Building in Boston. Though they've never lived in America, the pair are now dual citizens of Italy and the United States.

"It's a beautiful country," Marilou said happily. "It's a beautiful thing (to be a citizen), because you can come in America whenever you want."

Marilou hopes to become an oncologist, and said she could envision herself returning to the United States to study.

As the United States continues its soul-searching national debate over what it means to be a citizen and who should be granted that privilege, it's refreshing to hear Anna Pensa's enthusiasm for the country where she spent her first 11 years and the delight she takes in making her children a part of it.

Anna's parents came to the United States in 1961, settling in Plainville. Her father, a jewelry designer, took a job with the manufacturer Jostens, while her mother worked at the Homer & Alden factory.

Anna was born in Attleboro a year after their arrival, in 1962, and her sister was born three years later.

The Pensa family was happy here.

"I was too," Anna said. "I had a lot of friends."

It was typical mid-century suburbia - they played hopscotch, had Hula Hoops and Frisbees, and jumped rope.

It was also quite different from Italy, as Anna noticed on a trip back with her family. "I noticed even at (age) 4 that it was more free" there, she said. "Everything was more simple."

In 1973, however, her parents decided it was time to return to Italy for good. They moved to Campo Di Giove, just outside Rome, a small village of 1,000 people. Her parents still live there today, along with her 93-year-old grandmother.

The move required some adjustment on Anna's part.

"It was a strange experience," she recalled. The Italy she found had far less material abundance than the America she left. "In Italy it was a poorer life."

The games were different, too. "In Italy, for example, kids don't jump rope, they don't play with Frisbees. They play a lot of soccer, they play hide-and-seek."

That's all changed now, she added. Like American kids, Italian youngsters are hooked on computers and Playstations.

Anna grew up in Campo Di Giove, attended Rome University, married and became a pharmacist - but through it all she retained an attachment to the United States. And returning with her husband and children for a month-long visit in June, she still found much to love about America.

"I found a beautiful America - everything very, very clean, really a lot of order," Anna said.

The family traveled to Boston, New York City, Niagra Falls, Provincetown - "with all the gays!" she noted - and Westfield, N.J., to see relatives.

Anna also visited her old house in Plainville.

"It seemed to me tiny, very small," she said, "And ... it wasn't kept perfectly as my parents did. The garden was a little abandoned. I felt a little a bit sad."

Perhaps surprisingly for someone who had recently visited Boston and Manhattan, she had high praise for the conscientiousness of American drivers.

"You respect, very much, the speed limits on the way," she said. "This doesn't happen in Italy. We drive like maniacs. You have a lot of respect for the pedestrians."

Her dual citizenship perhaps also explains her even-handed view of the souring in relations between America and Europe in recent years.

The Iraq war was "not useful," she said. "Too many people have died."

Still, she said, there is blame to go around on both sides.

"I think that other nations, such as Italy and France, didn't have good behavior," she said. "Because, you know, in the beginning they were all of the same idea. Then, one by one, they - in a certain way, they abandoned the United States, and that's not nice either."

Yet for all that, she declared, the transatlantic alliance remains strong.

"I can assure you," she said, "that most Italians are still friendly with Americans."

TED NESI can be reached at 508-236-0434 or at tnesi@thesunchronicle.com.