Here I go
My dad Antonio Pirelli was born 12/12/1912 to Rosa Pirelli (née Trimboli). My grandfather was from Amelia his name was Eugenio Pirelli. Mum was the youngest of nine children, she was born Giuseppina Mittiga on Nov 28 1914. Her parents were Giuseppe and Elizabetta Mittiga (née Calabria). Her siblings were: Rosario, Annuzza, Domenico, Catarina, Ciccio, Maria, Rocco, Agostino. My father was an only child. Dad worked in the post office in Platì, his uncle was the post master general in Rome and we were supposed to go and live there, but when mum’s dad died one of her brothers (Rocco) took mum and her mother to Algiers and dad went there shortly after. They were married in Algiers. I don’t know how long they stayed there, but I know that dad was called to go to war, WW2. He was in the cavalry, he actually saw Hitler and Mussolini (he told me this). He was in Naples in the service in 1939 and was standing three feet away from them. In 1949 we emigrated to Australia where mum’s family had already started going, most of them ended up there except uncle Dominic who died in Platì and one of her sisters, Maria, who came to America. Maria married Antonio Zappia they had two children: Dominick and Giuseppe (Joe). Joe died in a car accident at the age of 17 (1948). By the way Ginette was born Nov 14 1949 and Norma Jan 18 1954. I do remember our trip to Australia. It was a nightmare, the name of the ship was Ugolino Vivaldi, a cargo ship. I can remember always being sick, never saw mum since she was always in the infirmary; the food was hideous, I ate boiled eggs for one month. Now about us in 1966 my cousin Dominick, Maria’s son (my cousin) came to Australia, I came back with him for a vacation and we ended up getting married. My life in America was very lonely at times, I came from a big family and at age 23 I felt like an orphan. We had three children MaryJo, Alessandra and Antonio. My husband was a liquor salesman, when my children started going to Uni, I got a job working as a floral designer. My husband was a Korean veteran, died Sept 19th, 2015 at 85. I do remember my few years in Platì and I wouldn’t give up those memories for anything. Every time I see a picture of “pignolata” I can still smell the things my grandmother and mum used to make. When I was 36 we built a house on the golf course and I started playing tennis, it came very easy to me. I played every minute I could, sometimes 5, 6 hrs a day, joined a team where we played competitive and in five years we went to state and won, (surprise). We were one win away from going to Flushing Meadow, NY. If I may brag, I never lost a match. In 1980 the Pistons traded Bob Lanier to the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks had a membership at the country club where we lived, so we got to meet Bob a few other players (they played with Dominick) and the coaches, Dominick bought them over the house one day and from then on we became good friends especially Bob who just about lived at our house. When he wasn’t playing basketball, he would pick me up and we would go to a tennis club and play doubles with another couple. His favorite thing to eat was “pumadoro insalta platiotu” style. He would come over just for that. I loved going to the games: we had front row seats center court, and I got to see all the best players from over the last 40 yrs. My husband used to play in a golf tournament for "Boys Town" of Italy. Every year all the rich Italians (Mafia) used to come to Milwaukee and they would always have a celebrity or an actor or famous athletes, so I got to meet a lot of them: Frank Sinatra, Joe Di Maggio, Joe Pantoliano, Chaz Palminteri, Rocky Marciano,Tony Darrow, Bobby Rydel, Al Martino, Paul Sorvino, Tony Lo Bianco. I can’t remember them all, it’s been a while since I used to go. That’s about all I know. Hope I helped a little. I know my older sisters knows a lot more than me. Ciao Flora
My dad Antonio Pirelli was born 12/12/1912 to Rosa Pirelli (née Trimboli). My grandfather was from Amelia his name was Eugenio Pirelli. Mum was the youngest of nine children, she was born Giuseppina Mittiga on Nov 28 1914. Her parents were Giuseppe and Elizabetta Mittiga (née Calabria). Her siblings were: Rosario, Annuzza, Domenico, Catarina, Ciccio, Maria, Rocco, Agostino. My father was an only child. Dad worked in the post office in Platì, his uncle was the post master general in Rome and we were supposed to go and live there, but when mum’s dad died one of her brothers (Rocco) took mum and her mother to Algiers and dad went there shortly after. They were married in Algiers. I don’t know how long they stayed there, but I know that dad was called to go to war, WW2. He was in the cavalry, he actually saw Hitler and Mussolini (he told me this). He was in Naples in the service in 1939 and was standing three feet away from them. In 1949 we emigrated to Australia where mum’s family had already started going, most of them ended up there except uncle Dominic who died in Platì and one of her sisters, Maria, who came to America. Maria married Antonio Zappia they had two children: Dominick and Giuseppe (Joe). Joe died in a car accident at the age of 17 (1948). By the way Ginette was born Nov 14 1949 and Norma Jan 18 1954. I do remember our trip to Australia. It was a nightmare, the name of the ship was Ugolino Vivaldi, a cargo ship. I can remember always being sick, never saw mum since she was always in the infirmary; the food was hideous, I ate boiled eggs for one month. Now about us in 1966 my cousin Dominick, Maria’s son (my cousin) came to Australia, I came back with him for a vacation and we ended up getting married. My life in America was very lonely at times, I came from a big family and at age 23 I felt like an orphan. We had three children MaryJo, Alessandra and Antonio. My husband was a liquor salesman, when my children started going to Uni, I got a job working as a floral designer. My husband was a Korean veteran, died Sept 19th, 2015 at 85. I do remember my few years in Platì and I wouldn’t give up those memories for anything. Every time I see a picture of “pignolata” I can still smell the things my grandmother and mum used to make. When I was 36 we built a house on the golf course and I started playing tennis, it came very easy to me. I played every minute I could, sometimes 5, 6 hrs a day, joined a team where we played competitive and in five years we went to state and won, (surprise). We were one win away from going to Flushing Meadow, NY. If I may brag, I never lost a match. In 1980 the Pistons traded Bob Lanier to the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks had a membership at the country club where we lived, so we got to meet Bob a few other players (they played with Dominick) and the coaches, Dominick bought them over the house one day and from then on we became good friends especially Bob who just about lived at our house. When he wasn’t playing basketball, he would pick me up and we would go to a tennis club and play doubles with another couple. His favorite thing to eat was “pumadoro insalta platiotu” style. He would come over just for that. I loved going to the games: we had front row seats center court, and I got to see all the best players from over the last 40 yrs. My husband used to play in a golf tournament for "Boys Town" of Italy. Every year all the rich Italians (Mafia) used to come to Milwaukee and they would always have a celebrity or an actor or famous athletes, so I got to meet a lot of them: Frank Sinatra, Joe Di Maggio, Joe Pantoliano, Chaz Palminteri, Rocky Marciano,Tony Darrow, Bobby Rydel, Al Martino, Paul Sorvino, Tony Lo Bianco. I can’t remember them all, it’s been a while since I used to go. That’s about all I know. Hope I helped a little. I know my older sisters knows a lot more than me. Ciao Flora
Ed eccomi qua
RispondiEliminaMio padre, Antonio Pirelli, nacque il 12/12/1912 da Rosa Trimboli in Pirelli. Mio nonno proveniva da Amelia e si chiamava Eugenio Pirelli. Mamma era la più piccola di nove figli, nata come Giuseppina Mittiga il 28 novembre 1914- I suoi genitori erano Giuseppe ed Elisabetta Calabria in Mittiga. Gli altri figli erano: Rosario, Annuzza, Domenico, Caterina, Ciccio, Maria, Rocco, Agostino. Mio padre era figlio unico. Lavorava nell’ufficio postale di Platì, suo zio era il Direttore Generale delle Poste a Roma e noi ci saremmo dovuti spostare a vivere lì, ma quando il padre di mia madre morì, uno dei fratelli (Rocco) portò sua madre a mia madre ad Algeri dove mio padre li raggiunse poco dopo ed è lì che si sposarono. Non so quanto rimanessero lì, ma so che mio padre fu richiamato in guerra, la Seconda guerra mondiale. Era in Cavalleria e vide Hitler e Muzzolini (me lo raccontò): era in servizio a Napoli nel 1939 ed era a pochi passi da loro. Nel 1949 emigrammo in Australia dove la famiglia di mamma aveva già iniziato ad andare. La maggior parte di loro finì per ritrovarsi lì tranne lo zio Domenico che morì a Platì ed una delle sorelle, Maria, che venne in America. Maria sposò Antonio Zappia ed ebbero due figli: Dominick e Giuseppe (Joe). Quest’ultimo morì in un incidente stradale a 17 anni nel 1948. Altre due mie sorelle nacquero in Australia: Ginette a novembre del ’49 e Norma il 18 gennaio 1954. Ricordo il nostro viaggio verso l’Australia. Fu un incubo, il nome della nave era Ugolino Vivaldi, una nave mercantile. Ricordo di essere sempre stata male e non vidi mia madre per un mese perché era sempre in infermeria; il cibo era orrendo, ho mangiato uova sode per un mese. Nel 1966 mio cugino Dominick, figlio di Maria, venne in Australia ed io tornai con lui per una vacanza finendo per sposarlo. A volte mi sentivo sola in America provenendo da una famiglia numerosa e a 23 anni mi sentiva quasi orfana. Abbiamo avuto tre figli: MaryJo, Alessandra e Antonio. Mio marito aveva una rivendita di liquori.
Quando i miei figli iniziarono l’Università, trovai lavoro come disegnatrice di ornamenti floreali. Mio marito era un reduce della guerra di Corea, è deceduto il 19 settembre 2015 all’età di 85 anni. Ricordo i pochi anni che ho vissuto a Platì e non cederei quei ricordi per nulla al mondo. Quando vedo la foto di una pignolata, sento ancora il profumo delle cose che mia madre e mia nonna cucinavano. Quanto avevo 36, abbiamo costruito una casa su un campo da golf, io iniziai a giocare a tennis che mi veniva facile. Giocavo spesso, a volte anche fino a cinque o sei ore al giorno e mi unii ad una squadra molto competitiva tanto da raggiungere le finali dello Stato e vincemmo (sorpresa!). Siamo quasi arrivate a giocare a Flashing Meadows, NY. Se posso vantarmi, non ho mai perso. Nel 1980 la squadra dei Pistons cedette Bob Lanier alla squadra dei Milwaukee Bucks che erano iscritti al Country Club dove vivevamo, e quindi ho incontrato Bob ed alcuni altri giocatori che giocavano a golf con Dominick e anche gli allenatori. Dominick li portò a casa un giorno e da allora diventammo buoni amici specialmente con Bob che praticamente viveva a casa nostra. Quando non era impegnato con il basket, andavamo al circolo del tennis a giocare un doppio con un’altra coppia. Il suo piatto preferito era l’insalata di pomodoro alla platiota. A volte veniva solo per mangiare questa insalata. Mi piaceva andare alle partite: avevamo i posti assegnati in prima fila e centrali ed ho visto giocare i migliori negli ultimi quarant’anni. Mio marito partecipava ad un torneo di beneficenza a favour della “Città dei Ragazzi” in Italia. Ogni anno tutti gli italiani più ricchi (mafiosi) venivano a Milwaukee invitando qualche celebrità quali attori o atleti famosi, perciò ne incontrai molti: Frank Sinatra, Joe Di Maggio, Joe Pantoliano, Chaz Palminteri, Rocky Marciano,Tony Darrow, Bobby Rydel, Al Martino, Paul Sorvino, Tony Lo Bianco. Non riesco a ricordarli tutti, è da molto che non partecipo più. E questo è tutto. Spero sia di aiuto. Le mie sorelle maggiori ricordano più di me (del periodo a Platì, ndt)
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