Middle Of The Road

This might be for the Blip Square meter challenge for February.  I thought long and hard...maybe not...about what I could use as my area to watch.  I chose the sewer cover on my road. I recognize that it's a bit unconventional but there's nothing about me that's conventional.

I gave my mom's youngest cousin (my second cousin?) in Buffalo a call and had a wonderful conversation.  She's the person who keeps the Cavalieri side of the family in touch with each other.

Mom and her cousins were 3rd generation Americans* on both her paternal and maternal (Scibetta) sides.  She grew up in a multi-generational household. Grandparents, who couldn't speak English, upstairs and her parents and four siblings downstairs. The typical Italian backyard, too, with a veggie garden and fig trees.

My dad was also a 3rd generation American. His grandmother came to the country at the age of 13 after a prearranged marriage. She was the only member of that generation I knew. We called her, "old grandma Cherry."  Cherry was the anglicized version of Cirrincione given to them at Ellis Island. To pronounce my name in Italian would sound like cherry to those who didn't give a damn. (The 'old' part is another story because there was also a 'young' grandma Cherry). She gave me my first taste of alcohol at the age of ten. She sneaked me into the kitchen to sample her homemade apricot brandy.  I know absolutely nothing about Dad's maternal, Bocchicio, side.
All of my great-grandparents were immigrants to the US in the late 19th, early 20th centuries.

Our families pronounce them very close to the original ....other than mine.  It's the  "ci"  combos.
We pronounce it: Sir-in-see-own-ee. Check out the original with Google Translate's sound icon (Eng > Ital)


*the U.S. Census Bureau counts the immigrant as 1st generation