Ciaccio, Rose (Lombardo) – songs

Posted on by

Recollections of Rosalie Ragucci-Cook

Songs my grandmother always sang: 

  • “Lazy mary you’ve got to get up. We need the sheets for the table!”.
  • “Take it off, Take it off, said the boys in the rear.” – Yes, she sang this very inappropriate song to me as a child. I’m glad I didn’t understand what it meant then!
  • She sang me an Italian lullaby which I now sing to my baby.  We have no idea what the words mean or how to spell them… “Nina nonna mia pachina.  Bambolina day a mama.”  One day, I was singing this to my infant son and thinking of my grandmother.  As I started singing, he turned his head and looked into the dark dining room and smiled.  It was so amazing that I actually said out loud “Hi grandma”.  I know she was there singing with me. 

Ragucci, Richard – “childhood injuries”

Posted on by

Ricky had his share of childhood injuries. 

The first was when he decided to drink turpentine.  It was scary but no harm done.

Another time, when they were not much older, Mike got angry at Rick and swung the garden hose at him.  The nozzle hit Mike on the top and his head and a stream of blood started shooting straight up out of his head.  I remember putting pressure on it and it stopped.  But it was a strange sight as this fountain of blood shot out of the top of his head.

The third is when he was playing in the playground when they were mowing the “grass” which was more dirt and rock.  The mower picked up a rock and it hit Ricky right in the center of the chest and knocked him down.  He ended up in the hospital but all was ok.

Ragucci, Richard – “3rd grade drop-out”

Posted on by

When Ricky was in 3rd grade, he decide that he had enough of school and wasn’t going back.  The principal of #9 in Port Reading was Mr. Brown.  He knew exactly how to “solve” this problem (I guess it wasn’t the first time).  So he told Ricky that he could stay home but while school was in session he had to stay in his room with no toys, or books, and no TV.  He couldn’t do anything until 3:30pm when school was over.  After 2 or 3 days Ricky had enough and wanted to go back to school but Mr. Brown said no, he had to stay a whole week.  The following week Ricky was glad to get back to school and never dropped out again!

Ciuffreda, Robert – “Christmas Eve”

Posted on by

(Recollections of Joe Ragucci – recorded 1/10/2005 by Joe Ragucci)
When I was growing up (teenager+) our Christmas eve tradition was that the entire Ragucci family went to Midnight Mass at St. Anthony’s in Port Reading and then walked down the street to Aunt Angelina and Uncle Leo’s house to celebrate.  Everyone was there and we ate and talked for hours.  The one “tradition” was that at 3am, the original “Christmas Carol” movie would come on TV and the kids would all sit around and watch it.  Bobby was amazing in that he had memorized all the lines in the movie.  So you heard the movie in stereo – from the TV and from Bob.  It was so much fun even though it was so late…..

Ragucci, Joseph – “bicycles”

Posted on by

(Recollections of Joe Ragucci – recorded 1/12/2005 by Joe Ragucci)

Growing up, the bicycle was a big deal because it gave me a great deal of freedom.  Over the years I had many bicycles, but ran each one to the ground since they were always in use.  I remember constantly repairing bicycles, whether it be fixing flats, or repairing broken chains, or greasing the rear axle gears, or straightening frames.  It was a constant job.  I remember one bicycle that was in really bad shape so I repainted it florescent orange.  It really stood out and glowed in the dark.  I felt so cool. Continue reading →

Ragucci, Joseph – “out of control VW convertible”

Posted on by
My first car

My first car

… and guess who’s stopped at the light – Aunt Mary and Aunt Angelina!

(Recollections of Joe Ragucci – recorded 1/10/2005 by Joe Ragucci)
Joe was the first one to get a car among his friends.  So obviously they all jumped in so they could get away.  Joe’s first car was a VW Beetle convertible so it common that the roof was down.  Continue reading →

Ciaccio, Rose (Lombardo) – Speaking Italian

Posted on by

Recollections of Rosalie Ragucci-Cook

My grandmother spoke English perfectly but she also spoke Italian, although she could not read or write Italian.   She could read and write English but her spelling was horrendous.  She tried to teach me Italian but I never wanted to learn.  I only know a few choice words!

I remember my grandmother talking on the phone to her sister or sister-in-law many evenings after dinner.  I always found the conversations to be so funny because they would talk half in English and half in Italian.  They would switch languages two or three times in each sentence!