Chee-ken A-nee-mal
It was a rainy summer day towards the end of the summer vacation, and my daughter was bored, so she asked Nonno if she could go out to the mall to see a movie and have lunch with her friends.
The alternative was to sit in the house miserably watching TV and fighting with her sister,
Nonno said yes for a change.
Yay!!!
With an old-school Calabrese accent and an overly cautious attitude in general, when it came to his grandchildren, Nonno had to give the full-out “you godda be care-fool” lecture before she left, even knowing a friend’s mom was bringing them.
“No talka to anybody! If you godda go pee, you no leave-a da group. You bring-a da mamma di you friend.”
“No eat-a dat-a sheet food.
“You stay wit-a you friends
“No eat-a da cheeken a-nee-mal”
“What????” she interrupted.
“I say.. You no eat-a da cheeken a-nee-mal”
“I eat chicken all the time, what’s wrong with chicken?”
“I no say no eat-a da cheeken! I say you no eat-a da cheeken a-nee-mal!”
“Ok Nonno… Whatever…”
“No – you no say ‘whatever’!!! You no eat-a da cheeken a-nee-mal!” sounding a little more nerve-wracked.
“You capeesh?
“You no eat-a da cheeken a-nee-mal or you gonna get seek!!!”
She got annoyed. “OK NONNO! I won’t eat any chicken animal. I won’t ever eat chicken anymore ever again.. OK!!!?????”
“Ho my Got!!!”
“I think-a maybe you no hear me at all.. I no say no eat-a da cheeken!!! I say you no eat-a da cheeken A-NEE-MAL!!!!”
“Maybe it’s no gonna be clean-a at-a dat place”,
“You no know who make-a dat-a teeng.
“Dat’s why I tole you, you no eat-a da cheeken a-nee-mal”
“Now you capeesh? No eat-a da cheeken a-nee-mal!!!”
Her bursting laughter filled the room as she finally understood. Don’t eat the chicken at the mall.
Tears were running down her cheeks from laughing so much.
Nonno was not impressed.
“You capeesha now?? No eat-a-da ceeken a-nee-mall??” with both triumph and annoyance.
It still comes up at the dinner table, and all of the family laughs every time Nonno makes chicken together, mimicking his voice
“No eata da cheeken a-nee-mal”
“Ma, you guys make-a me so madt!”, as he smirks at the story inwardly proud that we love to tell stories about him.
And we always smile.
Easter Ellen
~ writing what won’t leave me alone until it is expressed
Wondering about reading more?
Easter Ellen writes poetry, prose, fables, reflections, devotional pieces, and three-degree-sideways observations on life. Her work moves through humour, beauty, bite, tenderness, story, and the truth she relentlessly seeks beneath ordinary moments.
She also helps women think clearly, choose intentionally, and move forward with self-trust through content, coaching packages that meet them where they are, and practical tools for building better habits and thinking processes.
Easter Ellen writes poetry, prose, fables, reflections, devotional pieces, and three-degree-sideways observations on life. Her work moves through humour, beauty, bite, tenderness, story, and the truth she relentlessly seeks beneath ordinary moments.
She also helps women think clearly, choose intentionally, and move forward with self-trust through content, coaching packages that meet them where they are, and practical tools for building better habits and thinking processes.