In the beginning

My daughter made me do it! She has had a blog for a year (Four More Feet) - she began it when she came home with the two incredible children she adopted in Russia. They call me "Babushka" which is Russian for grandmother. Growing up in an Italian family (hence the title of my blog!!), I always thought a babushka was a scarf old ladies wore. Turns out it also means an elderly Russian woman. So, I guess that's me! Definitely not Russian, and certainly don't feel "elderly", but no sweeter words were ever spoken than those coming from the mouths of Vika and Eamon when they call me "Babushka"!

The main reason I wanted to start a blog is to try to capture stories of my family, and my life to pass on to my kids and grandkids. My mother-in-law died recently and during the course of the funeral, there were so many great family stories told. I had only known her for the past 7 years, and I found myself wishing I had known her in her younger days. It made me realize how much we miss when we don't talk to the "old people" in the family. They have so many rich things to tell us - it's our history - and yet we often don't want to bother to listen or to ask questions.

My dad is in a nursing home and last summer I found a book called "To Our Children's Children" which is a list of questions that guide a person to relay their stories for their descendants. I took the book and my laptop to the nursing home, asked Dad the questions, and typed the answers. There were some things he was telling me that made him laugh so hard he couldn't talk! I hadn't heard him laugh like that for such a long time. So now I have some of his memories on my computer and this blog will help me share those with the rest of my family and with future generations.