I have many wonderful memories of playing and going places with my friends Teresa Porciello, Eva Lindameyer and Nickie Cuccu. We would walk a couple miles to the beach, sometimes even in our high heels, but believe it or not, I never learned how to swim! When I was older we would go shopping in New York City and especially remember Gimbels and Macy's. We went to all the Broadway shows and I would get the autographs of all the stars. We also would take the subway to Time Square. I remember the first and last time that Eva and I went to Time Square for New Years eve. There were so many people there and it was so scary that we never did that again. I remember the smell of the butcher shop my mother went to and the sawdust that was all over the floor. I can still see the big wood butchers block that was all cut up from the knives. There was also the special chicken shop Mom would go to where you picked out the chicken in the cage you wanted and the butcher would kill it for you. The smell of the feathers is still horrible in my memory. Sometimes, Mom would take the chickens home live and would butcher them herself in the basement! I was very shy as a young girl and remember one time whem my mother sent me to buy cabbage. I was too shy to ask the man the difference between cabage and lettuce, and after 5 times and 5 heads of lettuce. my mother finally went herself!. When I was older, I had driving lessons once a week. We did not have a car at home for me to practice with, and I remember one time the instructor taking me to Manor Haven Beach, and I almost drove into the ocean! I think the instructor was very glad when the lessons were over, and I do not drive to this day! I remember my brother Mike sending for gadgets and things from magazines that we would play with. He liked working with electronics and one time he bought a Heath Kit and built the first TV in our neighborhood. It was in the attic room and friends would come sometimes to watch it. My mother was a wonderful cook, and I especially remember her ravioli's. They were the size of a dinner plate, and of course, everything was made from scratch. She would put clean sheets on a bed and let her homemade pasta noodles dry there. Here English was very broken, but I remember she had beautiful handwriting. I remember when my father sponsored my cousin Nick and his wife Vera to come to the United States, and they stayed with us for a while and lived in the upstairs room in our finished attic. Grandma Carmela would also come to visit at times. She always liked to talk with me since I was the only one of my siblings who spoke Italian fluently. Unfortunately, I have not spoken it in so many years it has been lost to me. I went to school and was friends with a girl names Joyce Mertz who, after she graduated from college, went in with her mother and started Publishers Clearing House . I also went to school with the actor John Cassavettes. I met my husband Ed at a fair while he was stationed at Mitchel Air Force Base, and we have been married for over 50 years now, and have 3 children, 4 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. I also remember my Grandmother Carmela. The only thing I can remember Mom saying about Italy was that the living conditions were very primitive and their home had a dirt floor. The did all their own butchering and canning.