My great-grandmother was Josephine (Pesce) (Perrone) Rosaio, better known as "Lalla Pina." To my family, she was "Grandmom-across-the-field," because her house was just "across the field" from where I grew up! Grandmom was born in Giusvalla on July 23, 1891 and was the youngest of the eight children born to Paolo Rocco & Francesca (Becco) Pesce. She came to the United States in 1909 and joined her parents and siblings in the Squirrel Run community at the DuPont powder mills along the Brandywine.
I was fortunate to grow up near a great-grandparent, when Grandmom passed away in 1989, I was a sophomore in high school. Grandmom learned broken English, but mostly she spoke the wonderful dialect of her hometown and we were lucky to grow up hearing it. I have lots of great memories of playing in her yard, getting treated to her "cakies," and all the family being together at her house. When she was living, Grandmom was the great matriarch of our family, and even though she's been gone for almost 20 years, it still seems as if everyone who ever met her clearly remembers "Lalla Pina!"
I was fortunate to grow up near a great-grandparent, when Grandmom passed away in 1989, I was a sophomore in high school. Grandmom learned broken English, but mostly she spoke the wonderful dialect of her hometown and we were lucky to grow up hearing it. I have lots of great memories of playing in her yard, getting treated to her "cakies," and all the family being together at her house. When she was living, Grandmom was the great matriarch of our family, and even though she's been gone for almost 20 years, it still seems as if everyone who ever met her clearly remembers "Lalla Pina!"
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