Tessie's Tales: Stories of Growing Up Italian in New York City

A storyteller draws you with her to a special place and time. You hear the sounds and smell the aromas. This is how I remember my mother, Tessie. She loved to tell a story. So many stories about Italians are negative or filled with hardship. The stories I have gathered for Tessie's Tales are those my Mom, Tessie, told me about what it was like growing up Italian in New York. The vignettes Tessie shared come from the fun and joy of growing up in a big Italian family in small, cramped apartments in the Bronx and New York City.