For me, life began in 1943, in a room on the top floor of a small 3 story row house in Norristown...!!!
The ‘GASPARI’ children consisted of Amelia (MOLLY), Frank (JAKE), and Catherine (CAT)...ALL children of LAURINA (Santori) GASPARI...A single mom, having lost her husband GIOVANNI...only 21 years after he landed on ELLIS ISLAND on MARCH 17, 1906...My Dad, JAKE, born December 3, 1917, was just 10 years old at the time his Father died...!!!
In that 3 story row, across the busy street from a railroad siding, on the first floor, was a small living room, a decent sized dining room, and a rather cozy large ‘wood/coal stove heated’ kitchen...
My Aunt Molly slept in the front bedroom on the second floor, my grandmom slept in the rear 2nd floor bedroom right next to our home’s only bathroom, my mom & dad and I had the front 3rd floor room, and my cousin Johnny, Molly’s son, had the rear 3rd floor room...I think, my Aunt Catherine, before she married, shared a bedroom with her mom...!!!
To me, it never seemed too crowded or congested in our family home...!!!
Oh there were many a heated disagreement among us, but these never seemed to last much past dusk...!!! Those family spats even seemed to draw us closer to each other...in some odd way...
Looking back we seem to have lost that ‘FAMILIAL BOND’ as the family dispersed and spread out into Norristown’s suburbs, and beyond...We attempted to keep the family flame alive for a time by frequent gatherings at our homes, at our many picnics, weddings, baptisms, communions, funerals, May processions, ‘Italian Feasts’...and the like...
If this is starting to sound sad...it is NOT...TONS OF GOOD MEMORIES THERE..
TODAY SHOULD BE A REMINDER OF WHY WE WERE PUT HERE ON EARTH...To help each other get to our REAL HOME IN HEAVEN WITH OUR ETERNAL FATHER...
As we bid farewell to our MOM, AUNT, GRANDMOM, GREAT GRANDMOM, OR FRIEND...AUNT CATHERINE (click here for obit)...Let us thank God for her life with us, her influence in our lives, and may she rest in the peace of Jesus...until we meet again...!!!
HAVE A BLESSED WEEKEND...!!!
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