If you grew up in New Jersey you're probably more likely to have a mom or grandmom that spoke with a foreign accent than you would be in any other state.

When immigrants arrived in New York, they usually didn't go too far. That meant New Jersey in many cases. My grandparents came from Southern Italy early in the last century at a time of crushing poverty and poor living conditions in that part of the world. My maternal grandparents had no education and signed their name with a big X.

My grandmother lived to be 100 years old, raised eight children and died with money in the bank. I really don't know how they did it. I can only hope to be half as strong, resilient and wise as she was. With no education and absolutely nothing to do in her town (I visited there in 2010) they only wisdom or information they had came in the form of old proverbs in a very rare dialect that was spoken in her part of Sicily.

My mother would recite these proverbs to me as a kid and I would scratch my head trying to understand their meaning. The other day we were talking about people who like to make trouble and she blurted one out in that ancient language that now sounds like music to my ears.

I asked her to repeat it and recorded it for posterity. It may not mean much to you, but I thought I'd share it with you anyway in hopes it would bring back a memory of your mom or grandmom growing up in New Jersey.

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