Cambriello Family Book: OUR FAMILY

Nurse Amanda

O U R F A M I L Y

After serving in the U.S. Army Reserves, Innocenzo returned to Revere where he met our mother, Amanda, in the hospital. He was a diabetic, and we assume he was hospitalized due to this illness. Amanda was working in the hospital at the time.

Innocenzo and Amanda were married in the spring of 1920 in Waterbury, Connecticut. I (Rose Cambriello) was born in September 1921 in Waterbury. When I was a toddler we moved to New York City, close to Noni and Popi Jacobson (Ingrid and Aldrich). They were friends of my mother’s from Sweden. The Jacobsons would become an important part of our lives.

Before long, in 1923, my sister was born. Her name was Jane Lillian. I enjoyed playing with my sister very much and we became very close. Seven years later my new little sister, Esther Antoinette, was born into the family. I adored her from the beginning and called her my little baby.

Rose (left) and Baby Esther

Jane and Rose, and little Esther in between

I don't recall much of my younger years but I do remember that until I was 7 years old, life was peaceful and quiet. We attended church on a regular basis with my mother and her Swedish friends. We loved going to the Swedish Baptist Church because it seemed that everyone there knew the little Cambriello girls. I had dark straight hair, Jane had striking platinum blonde hair, and Esther hardly had any hair at all!

Rose and Jane with Amanda and unidentified woman

In the evenings my father would play the mandolin and my mother would accompany him on the guitar. They played mostly Italian folk songs and beautiful hymns that we sang in church. These years still bring back fond memories of our family.

Then in May 1929 my mother, who suffered badly from asthma, developed pneumonia. I was in 1st grade, Jane was in preschool, and Esther was still just a tiny baby. One day I came home from school and an ambulance was parked outside our apartment. I knew immediately that it was for my mother. Before I reached the door my suspicions were confirmed – I saw them wheel her out into the ambulance. Before the doors closed my mother looked up at me and said, “Take care of your little sisters.” Only days later, my mother died. It was May 11th, 1929, the day before Mother's Day.

The next three years were very sad for me and Jane. My father had no family living near us, so after the funeral he sent us to live with some distant relatives in Brooklyn, Giacomo and Antoinette Mauro, cousins of my father’s mother (Rose Mauro). They had five children: Annie, Violanda (V), Pascual (Pat), Sabatino (Sammy), and Giovanni. Esther was lucky; she was placed with Noni and Popi Jacobson. They had temperaments more like my mother and spoke English and Swedish. The Mauros spoke loudly and argued with each other constantly. They mainly spoke Italian, and of course Jane and I only spoke English and Swedish. Even though I didn’t like living with them when I was small, I remained close to the children, especially Annie and V, into my old age.

"Unkie" Sven at Amanda's Gravesite

When my father felt we were safe and settled in our new homes, he returned to Italy to find a new wife! Shortly after arriving in Italy he remarried. My father and his new wife, Louisa Palumbo, remained in Italy for three years. It was difficult living without our father, but Jane and I had our Uncle Sven, our mother’s brother, who came to visit us on Sundays. “Unkie,” as we called him, would travel from New York City to Brooklyn just to visit us and would bring us peanut brittle and then take us to the park to skate.

Esther lived in Great Neck, Long Island with the Jacobsons. Jane and I would take the train from the city out to Great Neck just so we could see our little sister Esther. I can’t believe that we took a train all by ourselves – we were only 10 and 8 years old at the time! We loved staying with the Jacobsons and visited with them as often as we could.

Even after our father returned from Italy we remained close to the Jacobson family, especially the four sisters – Ina, Alice, and the twins, Ruth and Elsie. They eventually moved to Florida and lived near us in Boca Raton. Esther and I saw them often until their deaths.