INTRODUCING…..Neda Casini Mead

Neda has been a SLIAC member for many years and brings her sunny and positive personality to our meetings each month.

Neda was born in Castelvecchio, Tuscany, Italy, on April 3, 1940, and the third of four children of Luigi and Fosca Casini. Her mother, Fosca, was the eldest of six children of Teresa and Massemiliano Maltagliati.

Her Nonno (Grandfather) made wine in the basement of their home, which was built of native stone on a hill. The family grew their own food, had olive trees and a vineyard with cherry trees. They also grew wheat that was harvested and meat from their animals.

Neda’s memories:

“I remember helping to milk the cow that belonged to my Nonna Teresa, (My Mom’s Mom). She lived on a farm not far from my village. She also had geese, chickens and pigs. My Nonna would scoop up the cream put it in a bowl and hand it to me. With a fork I would beat it until it became butter. I would spread it on homemade bread and sprinkle it with a bit of sugar. It made a good lunch. Also, what I would eat was tomato paste on bread sprinkled with olive oil and salt. Very good indeed.

My grandparents were Orazio and Carmela Casini. The house I lived in had no running water, no electricity and no bathroom facilities. In the Piazza there was a spigot with running water where we would go with a bucket and bring it home. The cooking was done over the fireplace. We were poor, but I didn’t know it. I played hopscotch, kickball and anything else that required no equipment, and jump rope.

The war years were horrendous. In 1944 we were instructed to leave our village because the Allied troops were going to bomb very close to where we were. I remember standing on a little hill in our village looking to the horizon and seeing the next village up in flames. I never learned what happened there.

We left everything behind and went to a farmhouse away from the village. I remember hearing sirens and bombs far away. I was four years old at that time. A bomb hit very near where we were staying. My Dad was outside, everyone else was in the kitchen. When my mother took my baby sister to the back bedroom to feed her, I followed. The bomb hit our home and the blast from the bomb killed my dad outright. The boys, ages nine and thirteen, were sitting in the kitchen and died from the concussion.

By going with my mother my life was spared. I am positive that was Divine intervention. My Nonna and Aunt were spared. My poor Nonna could never come to grips as to why the two young boys were taken and she was not.

We must have had some relatives in America, because occasionally a package would come with coffee, sugar, evaporated milk, cookies, gum, etc. The containers where the cookies were would be our cupboards. Mom had remarried to Fred Moreni in1948 and went to America with him. She left us with Aunt Norma for a year, and then she was able to call for us.

When it was time for Nide and myself to come to America, my Uncle Vasco and Aunt Maria took us to Genoa and put us on the ship. They had given money to a lady that was also coming and she was to care for us. That woman was never around. I was nine years old and Nide was six. Everyone was seasick. I took care of Nide the best that I could. We landed in New York harbor on January 10, 1950.

Nide and i were alone. I didn’t speak English, so you can imagine the panic when we got off the ship, sitting on a small suitcase under the letter C for Casini. All the other people were leaving one by one. It was cold and damp. Finally, I saw my mom and Fred walking towards us. What a relief! They took us home by cab. As we were leaving, I came upon a door that opened by itself as I neared it. I thought it was magic. As we were driving home, I looked up and saw all those tall buildings. I was in awe.

Our first apartment was on the second floor of a tenement building and had three rooms.  My Mom and Fred used one bedroom and Nide and I used the other one. By this time Davio was born. He must have been eight or nine months old and slept with Mom. Davio is a combination of Danilo and Divo, the two brothers that were killed in the war. I quickly learned how to change diapers and to bottle feed the baby. Since I had finished the fourth grade in Italy, I was placed in that grade in America. As I said, I spoke no English so you can bet that the other children teased me quite a bit. One little boy was particularly mean. I had long braids and he was sitting behind me. The desks had inkwells and of course he stuck my braids in the inkwell. Even though I could not speak English, I surpassed all the other children in math. Goody for me!

Our next apartment was in the same building, on the ground floor. In 1950 Fred Jr. was born and the sleeping arrangements were the same. This apartment had a FULL BATHROOM. To save rent my mother became the janitor of that five-story building. I helped to sweep and mop the floors. We had to keep coal in the furnaces for the heat and hot water for the building. Two or three times a week we would haul the big barrels of trash to the front to be picked up. Nide and I would collect aluminum cans and take them to be sold. We made a few pennies.

The family eventually moved to Brooklyn to a two-story apartment. We finally got a phone. We lived there for two years. I graduated from High School, and even though I would have loved to go to college, I couldn’t as I needed to help my family with finances.

I worked for Metropolitan Life Insurance as a check writer. We moved to Arizona when Fred became ill with emphysema from a combination of smoking and the fumes from his job. The Doctors said that it would be beneficial for him in a dry climate. He moved by himself at first. We arrived sometime in the first months of 1959. The house Fred bought for us was very nice, very old, but very nice. It had a front and back yard and a great big grapefruit tree in the back yard.

I found a job through Manpower with Salt River Project as a keypunch operator and met my husband, Bill, through friends who introduced us. We got married in 1959, at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Phoenix. Our honeymoon was spent in our little two bedroom, one bath, house waiting for our furniture to arrive. I had used all my savings, $600, to buy furniture.

Three years after we married, our first daughter Elaine was born. Three years later we moved to a house that Bill built in Tempe. It had air-conditioning, three bedrooms and two baths, I became a full time mother after five years at Salt River Project. I loved it. I enjoyed my life. Bill thought it was time I learned to drive as having children, it would be a necessity. I learned to drive around South Phoenix. I thought I would never learn, but I did and I am grateful for that experience.

We had two daughters after Elaine, Dianne and Michelle. Elaine and her husband David have one daughter Cassandra Rachel. Michelle and her husband Bobby, have one son, Dylan Ryan.

Dianne is single. I love them dearly. They have been the joy of my life. I hope to live a long life and enjoy my grandchildren, and their children.

I have been very fortunate in my life. God has been good to me. He has kept me safe in many dangerous situations and has kept my children safe.

I give Him all the glory.” Neda Amorini Casini Mead