Mimi Torchia Boothby

Category: biographical

  • Not Nonno – Becoming American

    So here’s the question that my cousins and I all fruitlessly discussed: Why did we call our Italian grandmothers “Nonnie” which is very close to “Nonna” or “Nonnina” – the Italian word for grandmother; but none of us called our Italian grandfathers “nonno”? We called them Grandpa and Pop. I had been thinking about this…

  • Love, love, love

    So what did it take? Was there a characteristic of your mate or spouse that just went DING DING DING THIS IS THE ONE? There certainly was for me. On one of my very first dates with my future husband, I noticed how much he loved playing with little children, in fact, he ignored me…

  • Calabria, Italy

    Most people are happy to have a little family history. I am an exception. As a small child, I quizzed my grandparents, immigrants all; about where they came from. They patiently repeated the answers when I asked them again and again, and it occurred to me one day, when I was a teen, I had…

  • Aunt on an Automobile

    Here is my Aunt Tess sitting on her husband’s Buick. I actually have more pictures of that Buick than I do anything else from that time. Cars meant a lot to my family, they were status symbols even in the 1940’s. My Aunt looks a bit like a hussy here; but she was a beautiful…

  • Donald’s Dream – the Hunter

    I don’t know about you, but when someone wants to tell me about their dream, I get uncomfortable, because most dreams are utterly boring to anyone except the dreamer. So when my husband started telling me about this dream, my initial reaction vanished as his tale unfolded. I took a deep breath and sat down…