I grew up in a small town in R.I. where I still live which had a significant number of Italian immigrants from the Foggia province of Italy which included my maternal grandparents. My grandmother (Nonni) was queen of the triple decker apartment complex where my grandparents lived their entire lives and all morning long there would be a parade of visitors. These visitors which included in addition to friends and family, the fish man, the fruit and vegetable man which us bad kids called Papa Garbage, the bread man, the milk man, the rag man, the curtain man, and even a soda/pop man. These visitors knew better than to come to Nonni's when she was watching her "stories" from 1-3pm!! Since Nonni was my babysitter, I got to watch the "stories" with her and think I knew the names of all the characters on Days of Our Lives and Another World long before I knew my ABC's
Even though I am a Nonni myself now, there is not a day that does by that I don't think of and miss my beloved Nonni.