Author: gigisimeone

I never knew any of my maternal forebears before my mother. But I am lucky to have photographs of five generations of women in my family tree. Here's one of my great-grandmother, a few years after immigrating to Chicago from Trivigno, a hilltop village in Basilicata. My grandmother is on the left; she went on … Continue reading 111. Mother’s Day

As I wrote in a previous post, Ben and I ordered a box of frozen pizzas direct from Italy from Talia di Napoli, an outfit that had a little write-up in the Food section of the New York Times. As a treat for our kids, we also sent boxes to them, containing five pies each. … Continue reading 110. Talia Di Napoli pizzas selling like hotcakes, er, pies

I had the great good fortune of spending Easter 2019 in Rome. My daughter Maria was there on business, and invited me to tag along. It took me less than 15 seconds to think about it and say yes, even though at my advanced age, hopping on a plane to fly nine hours for a … Continue reading 109. What a difference a year makes

I'm a big believer in little treats. Nothing lifts my spirits like an impulse buy at the supermarket, a cute new pair of sparkly shoes, a midweek movie after work.  But little treats are harder to come by now that we're all isolated in our homes. Don't get me wrong; I know my life, even … Continue reading 108. Little Treats

It has always been a source of amusement in our household that my father grew up in two houses just a few blocks apart. The first was in the "downtown" area of Gaeta, where people lived in cramped quarters on narrow streets. In the summer, though, the family would move ten minutes away to the … Continue reading 107. If These Walls Could Talk

I've had two lovely surprises during these terrible times. I was showing my husband Ben something on my Facebook account, and he said, "Hey, you've got a lot of messages here!" "A message? What's that?" I replied, not being the swiftest with all this social media stuff. Well, it turns out that sitting there for … Continue reading 106. A Message from Italy

What's your idea of a perfect day? That is this week's discussion question. Every Friday for the past two years, I've sent out a topic to a group of friends and coworkers, and on Mondays, a group of us meet over lunch to discuss. I always try to compose questions that can be interpreted in … Continue reading 104. My Perfect Day

As an American, I naturally think of Italians emigrating to the great cities like New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago, to the smaller ones like Providence and New Haven, and to a certain extent to Latin America, the family of Pope Francis (ne Bergoglio) being a prime example. But it turns out that nearly 400,000 … Continue reading 103. Italian-Australians

Christmas in Italy is famously a low-key affair, at least in comparison to America. Actually, Christmas everywhere is a low-key affair compared to here, where consumerism rules the roost. In Italy, it's traditionally been limited to the Feast of the Seven Fishes Christmas Eve, Mass, and a few gifts for the children on the Feast … Continue reading 102. Natale