Grandma: A Piece of My Heart
By Joann Colonna

Anna Pedone Ingrassia—a lady born before her time. This was my grandmother. Came to the United States in 1922 at 8 years old with her father and two sisters. Her mom died in Italy from some influenza. When coming from the ship it was snowing and she had never seen snow before, told her father in Italian, "Pa, this is a fine rich country. Look pa they throw salt all over the streets."…Little did she realize how hard she and all Italian Immigrants would have to work to live in this wonderful country of ours. There would be no hand out for Italian immigrants. They did whatever possible to support their families and always with pride and respect of themselves and their families.

Eventually my grandmother raised three daughters herself and did a wonderful job in this new land. Worked in our oh-so-well-known sweat shops for 40 or so years. What made her outstanding was, whatever time she had to spend with her family--when she was with you--you thought you were the only one in her life and gave you more love and attention more than equal to a parent who stayed home with their children. She gave of herself. She enjoyed being a grandparent and when she died at the young age of 64 there was a void in my life that no person could ever fill.

She was before her time because she knew that with love anything is possible. She taught me the pride I have in my heritage today—the strength and the stamina we have are special gifts of our heritage. Families are our foundation and everything else is built upon this. When I think of being Italian I thank her, for without her and her father, I could not have been an American and would not have had the opportunity to choose my destiny. We owe it to all our ancestors to keep their love light burning. I, for one, belong to Sons of Italy in America and try to keep our accomplishments in the view of all Americans. By doing this, Grams, you will always live.

A Tribute To Yolanda Dantonio DiBernardo
By Toni DiBernardo-Jones

My mother was a wonderful mother, person, sister, grandmother and daughter. She had a way about her and she would help anyone she could anytime that she could. She loved her family and most of all her grandchildren. She was the type of person who knew what she wanted and got it. Until the last six weeks of her life she was an independent person always running here and there, always the active person she was. She always loved taking long rides in the car.

The last trip that she made out of her home that she loved very much was up to her youngest daughter Mary Jo’s home. She always wanted to see her two youngest grandchildren Brianna Lynn Knis and Michael William Knis. These two young babies were the light of her life as the others were as well, but these two really kept her going on with her life.

The usual trip to Mary Jo’s was to see these wonderful children who were her heart. Brianna is the only girl among all the boys in her family. Brianna was her love and her heart. She would always be happy to see her Grandma. There have been times since my mother’s death that Brianna has said that she saw Grandma Yooie and even has carried on conversations with her.

I know if there is a way for her to still see these children, she has found the way to still see them. She would say that Brianna melted her heart and holds a very special place in it just for her. She, for a while after she had taken ill, went and stayed with Mary Jo in her home. And she was so very happy to have this time with Brianna. She was always wanting to see Brianna and Michael. She bought them an oak table and chairs set that the kids still use today. I can remember when we went and bought this for them for Christmas that year. She couldn’t wait to give it to them, just like a kid herself that year with the gifts she had bought the babies. She really loved all her grandchildren, but these two little ones really were the light of her life, her heart as she would say. They really kept her going for a while.

On her last trip to see Michael and Brianna she fell going into Mary Jo’s house that day. Mary Jo and I had to take her home and take her into the house and into her bedroom. She never left the house or came back down from her bedroom again. This was a very sad time for us, her daughters. So hard to see someone who was so full of life and spunk to not be able to do the things that she always did and loved to do. She would at times put on her makeup and say today we are going to go see the kids, but she just couldn’t do it anymore.

It was a hard blow for her not to be able to do all the things she loved to do before and now not being able to do anymore. That was the hardest thing for her to accept. She was always an active person, and she was always on the run. For my mother her life was cut off way too soon for someone who still had so much more to do. She will miss all the important things like birthdays, graduations, weddings. All things that she would be a big part of.

I can remember her saying how she would love to see Brianna on her First Holy Communion Day all dressed up and looking like a little bride walking down the beautiful staircase in Mary Jo’s home. I know that when that day comes I will always remember her saying those words to me. The older grandchildren still also miss her very much. They all have their own memories and favorite stories about her that they all hold dear.

I had the most wonderful experience with her the week that she passed away. She would always say that Joey was an angel. She started with telling me about the beautiful dream that she had the night before. She told me that she was in a car in the front seat with Joey and daddy. She said that she had heard noise in the back of the car and she turned around to see who it was and she said that it was I, and Debbie and Mary Jo.

She said, " I told Joey that you girls don’t look like that any more, that we were grown and had grown children of our own, and that Joey answered that he knew but this is how he remembered us." She also said that Joey told her that he was around us all the time. She would also have a recurring dream about Joey. He would be walking up to our house and be in sooty clothes and she would tell him, "Joey come in and let me wash your clothes, and he would answer her, "It’s ok mom this is my job." She would ask me what I thought that this meant, but I never told her what I thought the dream meant and what I thought his job was.

She told me the one day I was in the bedroom with her, "Oh I wish you could see this beautiful male angel all dressed in white. I am afraid if you turn your head too fast that he will leave, but he is so beautiful." She went on too as if having some conversations with this male angel and said to me, "Did you hear what he told me? I told him to please put me down I was going to make him fall and he told me, "Mom I won’t let you fall. You are as light as the feathers on my back." She said to me, "Toni, it's Joey. I always knew that he was an angel." You could actually almost feel an energy in the bedroom that day. Sitting there awhile longer on the same day, I felt like a cool breeze brushed up against my cheek.

She said to me, "Toni, your father just kissed you on your check and told me to tell you that he never forgot how you took care of him." These were words that my father had told me right before he passed away, and no one else was there but he and I. So when she told me this I was just in total amazement as to what she had just told me. It was a validation to what I already knew. This was an experience that I will never forget the rest of my life. A very special memory that I will remember and carry in my heart for the rest of my life, and I am so very happy to have been there and had this with my best friend, my very loving mother. I’ll love you and miss you forever Mom.