My family language

My family is Italian, large, and loud. We don’t all speak Italian, but my uncle and grandfather do. Some Italian words make it into our everyday interactions, but many words and phrases are just ways we keep each other in check. We are a spread out group among the mid western states, but we have such strong heritage and always put family first. My uncle Darryl is the most ridiculous of all of us. He is forty-five years old, but acts like a twenty year old. We have a cabin in Montana that we all meet at every summer. We all joke a ton, and tell stories about my aunts and uncles growing up in Montana when we are all sitting around the fire. We reminisce about plug-in cans. When my uncles and dad were younger, they attached a lamp cord to two beer cans, held on, and plugged it in to see how long they could hold on. There were many boy–ish incidents that we chat about involving my dad and his brothers.
Montana is my favorite place on earth though. My uncle is my mentor and one of my heroes, but he also spearheads all of the hazing that goes on among my family while we are in Montana.
I have lots of young girl cousins. They are high school/college age now, and my uncle is very quick to tease any prospective male companions that they dare to bring to the cabin. He calls them all biff; It is an old school term that refers to a “meat head” jock type guy. It’s all in good fun, we all get a pretty big kick out of it.

We play a lot of card games as well. We play a family game called 31; it costs a dollar to play. My little 5 year old cousin and knows how to play; we even make her pay. It’s not so bad for her though because she has won a ton of money off of all of us.

Like I said, we are a very loyal and strong family, but we love to play games. We have many phrases that come up in card play that are specific to my family:

“Porka miseria” – means miserable pig; Said by a player when they draw a poor card.

“It cost’s nothing to pay attention” is said when we are waiting for someone to play their

hand, but they are oblivious that their turn is up.

“Na Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey Hey, Good Bye…” our farewell song when a

member gets kicked out of the game.

“Sensuous” – the first person to get kicked out of the game is called sensuous. It stands

for “since you was up”…you have to serve the remaining players with drinks

Rule #1 – even my 5 year old cousin knows Rule #1: never rat out your family.

It seems harsh to outsiders, but I have never felt more a part of something than I do with my family when we are in Montana. The antics are what bring us together and create memories. I’m glad to have a sense of humor, but I still feel protected, and loved. I wait all year for the week I get to go there, and those that visit usually leave with a few laughs.