Carolina A. Sinibaldi (third from right) with her five children in 1986, when she was 80. EDISON — When Carolina A. Sinibaldi was growing up after the turn of the 20th century, roads were made of dirt and transportation was still primarily by horse.
This year, Carolina reached 104 years of age, and what a difference a century makes, changes from gas- … make that electricpowered vehicles, to the election of the first African American president of the United States, Barack Obama.
“The most important invention during her lifetime was the perfection of the light bulb by Thomas Alva Edison,” said Carolina’s daughter, Gloria Dittman. “She just loved to read, and the light bulb allowed her to read anytime, and she loved especially the romance novels because she was a romantic.”
Gloria invited the Sentinel to sit down with her mother recently. Carolina was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease six years ago.
“She has reverted back to her original language of Italian and remembers the times when we were young,” Gloria said.
Carolina grew up in Campobasso, a province of Abruzzi in Italy.
“She got married to Antonio when she was 17 years old and he was 18 years old,” Gloria said. “He was in the Italian Army, and they had three children.”
In 1929, Antonio immigrated to the U.S., but Carolina and the children had to wait seven years to join him due to red tape.
“One of the children, Anthony, died of diphtheria, because at the time there were no doctors and they were poor,” Gloria said.
When they were finally able to join Antonio, Carolina and her children Michael and Nina moved into an apartment in Newark, and had three more children, Anthony, Olga and Gloria, the youngest.
“It was 1936, my father was a truck driver and he never missed a day of work,” she said. “My mother loved gardening and worked as a seamstress.”
They bought their first two-family house in Kearny in 1951, and in 1965 they moved to Colonia. Eventually they would retire and move to St. Petersburg, Fla.
Antonio passed away in 1981 at the age of 75 and Carolina has been living with Gloria in Edison for the past 10 years.
“She is just so positive, and she instilled that into us,” Gloria said of her mother. “I think that shows throughout the whole family. My brother Mike was in World War II and he lost a son in the Vietnam War. … You would never know, talking to him, because he is so positive and has a great attitude.”
Carolina also encouraged the children to get an education.
“Her lifelong message is ‘education is power, be good citizens and obey all laws, both those of God and country,’ ” Gloria said. “Every one of us did get an education, some through nights, but it was worth the struggle.”
Carolina has 14 grandchildren, 21 greatgrandchildren and six great-greatgrandchildren.
“She has sewn many dresses for the kids,” Gloria said. “She just loves children and having them around her.”