My Nonnie (Italian for Grandma) was a very special person. She was kind, caring and would go out of her way to be nice. This really fit into her career of nursing. On the holidays she would bake cookies and give them and other helpful things to patients and their family.

When I asked my dad to describe her, he said “all of the above.” I don’t remember her too much but I don’t have a bad memory of her, only happy times. She was very welcoming and caring.When I asked my uncle (her son) how he would describe her to a stranger he said “She cared about everyone. Almost too much, more than she had time for. It was really part gift, part curse that she took peoples worries to heart.”

She was very nice and one other huge thing was family. As a kid her family owned the Italian club and they were well known in the Italian community. “They were Italians and all Italians are close” is what my Nono (her husband) said when I asked him what family meant to her. They were and even as my dad grew up his family and relatives would have regular family lunches at their grandmother's house. “She felt like the most important thing was how you treated people.” said my Uncle Eric. Overall she was just caring and really did think friendship, family, and how you treated people was key. My Nono (her husband) said that “People would come up to me and express to me how much they felt about her. thats how you want to live your life.”

I agree with my uncle, when he said he feels like even though she is not still with us it still feels like she is watching over us. She never got to see his children but he said he still feels like he can see how she would have interacted with them and feels like he is doing what she would do. On some of my big decisions I feel like she is watching over me and guiding me on what to do. She is a great role model and influenced me on how to live my life. To be friendly, nice and to never underestimate friendship. Overall this I think she influenced me a lot indirectly, through my dad. He got a lot of his character traits through her and he passes them down to me. He is welcoming and if I have anyone over to be respectful and a good host. One of the big things he taught me that he got from Nonni is to make good first impression, be clean, and make good friends. Learning about my grandma has showed me how much she truly gave me.Overall she was “Caring, empathy [empathetic]; she was selfless and she worked to make people’s lives better.”