I agree with you folks!

You know I can't get past the whole hiding in the church crap either. It bothers me so much, I feel I must vent! He really touched nothing in his book that either of my grandmothers did. My Sicilian Grandma (on my father's side) - her house was full on Saturdays (her day of work) with all sorts of people. My job was to sit quietly on a red stool ( I see the retro version, nearly identical for sale now at stores) holding my stuffed Snoopy dog, directly under the phone in case it were to ring and cause disruption. Her house was ten times as full on Sunday's with just our family for dinner.

She used Holy Water and Oil, Lavender , Lilac , Lemon, Chamomile , Garlic , Olive Oil and even vinegar sometimes - to the point that you could still catch hints of their scents lingering underneath the aromas of Sunday dinner. She used candles and baths -the joy of using salt - a gift given to her from others visits to the "boot". I remember a cool shower or two with Prell shampoo - don't ask me why she prescribed this for us kids. I sometimes think we were test dummies for the possibility of this new ,fancy ,green tubed shampoo!

She called upon saints , such as Anthony, Michael, Joseph , Jude and Mary and used prayer - plenty of Novena's and Novella's to go around.
The priest was her helper, her confidant, her friend - not someone she hid from! She loved yarn, She made simple charms, yet they worked. Her entire day was spent in the kitchen on weekends. She had cards, but not tarot. She loved astrology , especially Sydney Omarr. She had trees, lilacs, flowers and a garden that she gladly shared with a couple of rabbits.

She had a huge family. The closest thing I can get from memory to a "boschetto" is weekly visits to her sister where another sister would often join and they would sit out in the backyard in this large white wooden covered yet open (latticed wood of some sort) garden area - full of flowers, grapevines , herbs and what not - they would sit around a little table in a small clearing of this semi opened garden and we kids were almost always sent to my Great Auntie's kitchen to suffer the indulgence of homemade Italian cookies - by the big plastic container full. We will never know just what these women did at this time. Perhaps just silly talk, church gossip, cookies and coffee.

Grandma never hid from anyone or anything that I know of. She was quiet (sometimes) but she was an Italian woman - no BS for her or from her. She had a sense of humor, if all else failed, making us laugh always worked. After a hard day of "work" on Saturday she would take us up to church to light candles. The closest thing she ever had to a modern tool was when grandpa eventually added a little black and white television in her kitchen , this never went on until Sunday dinner was over and most family had left - until we delivered food to family that could not make it to dinner that day. Then she would give in to her only vice from this tool - Sonny and Cher! On a lucky day she would allow us to watch The Captain and Tennille show as well!

She swore by her chicken soup (there is a name for this soup ) for curing ails as well. I always thought our family was so special because our chicken soup had tomatoes in it and it wasn't out of a can -and later when kiddie pastas came in cans and my poor cousin thought he was so different because the other kids had this awful stuff , along side her huge & beautiful Sunday meal she stirred up a can for him -no one touched it, I felt twice as special then and he never again grieved about what special new thing the others had.

She used eggs, but for the life of me, I never ever remember this woman cooking an egg - such as for breakfast. As times changed, she quickly added a couple modern cure alls - Vick's Formula 44 ( I still taste that crap sometimes!) - and if truly sick with a head cold, she would put our heads over cups of instant cocoa (another modern cure all in her eyes) and put a towel over our head and the cup, you see the cocoa was not a treat, it was a steam bath for your sinuses! A modern "cure" she adored - and boy if you had a fever with your cold- you got the truly lovely plaid ice cap on your head! Between the awful Vick's, and all the props - one wanted to feel better! I think she was going for distraction method - with all that crap around your head how could you not forget your stuffy nose! I longed for the older cure of garlic bulbs as my stuffy head hung over a cup in the dark with ice on it!

And gosh forbid and pity the fool that would mess with any of her cubs no one was to mess with the cherub faced cheeks she loved to pinch and kiss -there was always something up her sleeve for these types of people as well. Usually the bad went next to the Eskimo Pies - sometimes something more serious, such as ending up in the oven would occur.

She had a cubby shelf in the kitchen and a few in the front room - with pictures, statues and whatnots. She always had candles burning in the window as well. I truly believe her Catholicism went hand in hand with whatever special work she did, in unison, never against.

As things modernized she would do silly things, like spends hours making pastries just to set a box of store bought donuts next to them on the counter, bake bread then go get a loaf at the Italian Deli. She would soon "take a day off from cooking". The 4th of July. She would send a family member for a "bucket of chicken". Yet, she made all the side dishes and her famous baked Italian chicken - guess how much of the bucket got eaten? You see love never takes a day off, and through her cooking and healing, prayers and silly stories - she showed us love. My memories of her go from the downright superstitious to the hilariously funny. I loved her, still love her dearly. Sometimes I wake up and find my house smells similar to hers, and I clearly recall her voice as she spoke in Sicilian and in English with nearly every English sentence starting with "You's...." and I can't help but smile.

I could go on all day with memories of just this one special woman, my grandma. She held close her heritage, yet loved us openly enough to try to help us assimilate to American ways - she just kept her special Italian twist right along with these new ideals and trends.

Shame on him for assaulting this quaint, simple, loving , healing, hard working, family oriented, spiritual woman! Shame on him for assaulting this sweet memory, this heritage of mine. These first generations had so many struggles and fought for the comforts and practices of their heritage as they made their way here in America. He can write whatever book he wants, he can babble any crap he wishes, he will never be the "healer" my grandma was - that takes strength, guts, hard work, honesty, compassion and love.