Rosina (Iuliano) Censani

Nonna grew up on a small farm in a valley along the Apennine Mountains outside of Naples, and spent most of her childhood with her mother and her two brothers.  Nonna’s family lived up the road from a church, and owned a few farms, where they grew cherries, figs, chestnuts, and beans. Her father was in America trying to establish citizenship for his family when World War II kept him stuck in America.  They faced many hardships alone in Italy, with the soldiers taking over their farmland and the sanctions that America put on Italy during the war, at times they survived on boiled grass.  When the war ended, Pasquale sent for his family, and they boarded the Marine Falcon ship to America.  Pasquale was not able to get permission for Luisa’s father, Josue, to join them at that time, and he died before they were able to bring him to America. Nonna carried that guilt with her until even a few weeks ago.  

Nonna saw the world evolve from a simple place where news was spread by a man standing atop a box in the busiest part of town, shouting out the latest news about the war or sharing what kind of meat was available at the butcher.  She would communicate with her father in America by postal mail, taking at least three weeks for a letter to make its way across the ocean, and at least another three weeks before receiving a reply.  She watched the world modernize, marveling at the ease of shopping at stores like Woolworth, and the ease of being able to commute using a personal vehicle.  Imagine living life that way and then being able to partake in the use of the internet to Facetime with family in an instant? Nonna was truly an amazing person who put family before everything else.  She spent many decades enjoying her shared backyard with her brother Joe and Zia Adele, just chatting the evenings away on the patio in the warm months or inside around the table when it was cold outside. Her brother Nick and Aunt Bridget lived only a few blocks away, and she truly valued her friendship with Aunt Bridget over the years, especially after Uncle Nick passed away. Nonna was so proud of her family, and she had every reason to be.  She raised two incredible children: her beloved son Paul, who we lost five years ago, almost to the day, a loss that truly marked the beginning of the end for Nonna, and her daughter, MariaLuisa, who doted on her hand and foot for the last year, sleeping here and caring for Nonna around the clock better than any aide or nurse could have.  Mom, you advocated for Nonna, made sure that they allowed her to sit upright and sentient even in the ICU.  You made sure she enjoyed every bit of life, bringing her everywhere she needed and wanted to be, and being her connection to the outside world when she couldn’t leave her basement for recreation anymore.  You drank Bailey’s together, watched television together, scrolled Facebook together, and so many more things that I’d never be able to adequately list here.  You were her best friend, her lifeline, and she appreciated you more than anything. She wanted you close by at all times, and you were there with her until her final moments, holding her hands as she passed on.  Thank you for all of the sacrifices you made to make sure that Nonna died on her terms, living in her home until the very end.  She was very lucky to have you by her side, and she was so proud of everything you accomplished in your lifetime.  She was so proud of her five successful grandchildren, always beaming when talking about their accomplishments, and truly enjoyed becoming a great-grandmother in the later years, to Nicholas, Jake, Oliver, John Paul, Penelope, and now baby Rosina, who is blessed to be named after one of the most beautiful angels to ever walk this Earth and whose smiling face truly brings comfort to our hearts knowing that she will forever carry our beautiful Nonna’s name throughout her life.  We were so fortunate to be able to share so much of our lives with our Nonna, and I feel so blessed knowing my children got to know and love her too.

Nonna was my best friend, but really, she was everyone’s best friend.  Nonna loved with her whole heart, and opened her home to everyone. Nonna listened and cared about what you had to say. She would be thinking about you long after you left her table, always genuinely concerned about everyone’s well being and happiness.  Despite the fact that Nonna had to quit school after eighth grade so she could help with the family farm, Nonna was the smartest and wisest person I knew. You would never know that she didn’t attend high school.  She worked hard at perfecting the English language, always stopping to ask what a new word meant and how to spell it.  She loved to write cards for every occasion, and may have single-handedly kept Hallmark in business all of these years.  She loved to read; back in the 90s, she read Reader's Digest and gathered miscellaneous information from the various articles they included in each publication. But with the invention of the internet, we quickly set up a desktop computer in Nonna’s basement where we learned together the incredible invention that was the internet.  We began collecting recipes together and learned how easy it was to search information online.  Eventually, Nonna got an iPad and social media, and there are very few people who have not enjoyed seeing her thoughtful comments, always ending in a string of carefully chosen emojis and the words “love, Nonna,” which is how she signed off all communication: voicemails, greeting cards, text messages, shopping lists, or social media comments. She really kept up with the times, switching between Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, and Messages to keep up with the lives of her family and friends, especially when it became harder for her to physically participate in all of those events.  She knew what was going on with everyone before we did most of the time! Nonna loved scrolling through her social media feeds and sharing the best life hack videos with all of us in the family chat on Facebook.  There was a period of time where we would get five or six messages a day with something Nonna thought would help make our lives a little easier.  She was always thinking of us.  I loved FaceTiming with her and sharing everything, from dinner with the boys at the kitchen table, to taking her with us on the “It’s a Small World” ride in Disney, where she would recount seeing the same ride at the World’s Fair when she visited in 1964 in Queens.  She loved living vicariously through us, and we loved sharing every moment of our lives with her.  It hurts to think that those times are over, and that she won’t be there for us to talk to about everything and about nothing. Life is going to feel incredibly different not being able to gather with her at this table here, which was home for so many of us for so long.

But our beautiful Nonna is not gone.  I know she’s still here with us:  She’s in the springtime, in the sunshine, in the blooming flowers, in the fig trees we propagated from her yard, in the winning lottery scratch-off tickets, the fresh sliced Terranova bread, the beautiful strawberries, the crisp $50 bills, in the pastina that we will make for our children, even though it will never, ever be as good as hers.  She’s in the butterflies, in cantaloupe and honeydew (but only the ripest ones that she thought tasted like ice cream, not the ones that tasted like cucumbers), in the elephants, in the quarters I keep handy in my car, in the broccoli rabe, in the scent of Chanel No. 5, in the greeting cards, in the fresh air, in the grapes, in the cool summer nights sitting outside on the patio enjoying the breeze.  She’s in all of the memories, all of them, from the time we were born through now, because she’s been an integral part of everything.  And she’ll be in all of the future memories because she is etched in our minds and our hearts, and we will carry her with us forever and always.  But now it’s time for us to learn how to be here without her and to carry on her legacy for the next generation.

Nonna, I hope you are together with Uncle Pauly, with your brothers and your parents, and your Nonno Josue who you have thought about since you left Italy in 1947.  I hope you’re having bagels together and the freshest fruit, the most ripe honeydew and cherries, and celebrating all of the winning scratch-off tickets.  I hope you are smiling that beautiful smile of yours, and that your big laugh is echoing for miles.  I hope you have every peace and happiness now, because you deserve it all and more.  Thank you for loving us in the way that you did.  Thank you for teaching us, Nonna. The lessons were too many to count: how to cook, how to buy broccoli rabe (always choose the ones with the shortest stems), how to listen, how to pour the milk before the coffee (to get the perfect ratio every time), how to think about things from other people’s perspectives, how to pick the perfect fruit, how to pay attention to small details, how to be generous, how to be resourceful, how to always keep an umbrella handy, how to love with your whole heart, how to look for the best in people, how to remember what you need to bring with you by leaving it with your bag or by the door as a reminder, how to always give the benefit of the doubt, and how to say “nada volte” when it’s been enough. You taught us that it was always right to do the right thing.  Thank you for staying with us as long as you did.  We have loved every minute of loving you.  We wouldn’t be who we are today without your love, and for that we will be forever thankful.  “I miss you” will never be enough. We need to say it in Italian, the way you taught us to. Mi manchi, Nonna. Translated it means “You are missing from me.” Forever missing from us now, until we meet again. We love you, asai asai.

  A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Theresa Church on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 at 11:00 am.  Mrs. Censani will be laid to rest immediately following the funeral mass at St. Raymond's Cemetery.

Her care and arrangements have been entrusted to Ralph Giordano Funeral Home.

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