Hey everyone, sorry I was away so long...but this whole weekend was crazy busy because my litttle sister Baretta just got married..congrats sis and Mario! They are honeymooning in St.Kitts, I am so jealous...Anyhow I said last time that I would tell you all about my little Italian grandmother, and I remembered a funny story about her so here it goes. My grandmother, or Nonna as we called her, is a tiny woman, she never stood more than about 4 ft 10 and she always kind of reminded me of Dr. Ruth, only Italian looking. She was dark complexioned and dark-haired, but had gone mostly gray by her fifties. She had a prominent "Roman" nose which is something Pops has always poked fun at her about, that and the faint mustache on her upper lip. Like I mentioned before, Pops and Nonna HATE each other, always have and always will. Even now, Nonna had a stroke a few years back and now lives in a nursing home, she can't really speak anymore but when she sees Pops (Ma drags him there) she still shoots an icy glare his way. Nonno when he was alive, used to say "Anna is full of amarezza !" In Italian that mean bitterness. It's true too, Nonna has always been suspicious and jaded towards just about everyone for some reason, she has never talked much of her past so we don't really know why. There are things she loved above anything though when she was well, those being: 1.The church-she always carried her rosary. 2. her son Anthony, Ma's younger brother-she always used to claim he would be a priest, but Anthony had other plans...a topic I will cover later 3. Bruno-because "he's a Bonzerelli", Bonzerelli is Ma's family name. 4. Angie-my cousin, because she is Anthony's daughter 5. cooking and baking -she was an amazing cook, I'll give her that! 6. opera 7. Nonno's homemade wine-the only thing she drinks. 8. Pinocchio-not the wooden boy, but this was a cat she had that I think lived for 20 years or something and when it died she blamed Pops because the cat also hated him. And that's about it. Nonna never really liked Tony and I , probably because when we were kids Anthony who is not much older than we are always did bad things and set us up to take the blame, that and the fact that we look more like Pops! Nonna was very emotional and excitable and was prone to fainting when something upset her. She would start hyperventilating and have to breathe into a paper bag, which she always had in her ever-present purse. I think she even took her purse into the washroom with her at her own house! I just don't remember ever seeing her without a purse. Anyhow, one day Pops was out back working underneath his truck when Nonna came over to see Ma. Well, Ma got a call from the school that Bruno had wet his pants...again...so she had to go pick him up, Tony and I were also at school. That left Nonna alone in the house with Pops working out back, but he didn't know she was there. Next, I think Pops' foot slipped or something and knocked the jack out from under the truck, essentially pinning him under where he was working. He started to shout out for help, thinking Ma was inside still, but little did he know that Nonna was there. She was sitting on the couch watching the Italian Telejournal with the volume turned up, and a little knowing smile on her face....as Pops shouted out back for help. I will tell you the rest of the story next time....ciao!
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