a Connecticut boyhood

by Jerry & Pat De Angelis

A SPECIAL INTRODUCTION - www.theartisan.net is devoted to Italian food and has a special section for bread baking. The owners are dedicated cooks who teach and develop recipes, but many of their recipes are gleaned from colleagues in Italy as well as from original Italian texts. All their recipes are fully tested and are true to the high standards of classic Italian cooking. Pay them a visit and bookmark their site: www.theartisan.net but first read about nonna madeleine and her influence.

We thank the artisan for their generosity and cooperation.

We lived on Windsor Avenue, a street around the corner from Springdale Avenue. Springdale Avenue and the nearby streets made up Meriden, Connecticut's "Little Italy". It was from there that we walked to my grandmother's house. She lived on Grove Street, and to get there, we traversed almost all of Springdale Ave.

At the time we were sure that everyone's name ended in a vowel. As we walked through the neighborhood we passed the Salomones, the Carestias, the Ciasullis, the Papallos, the Carabettas, the Antolillinis the Buonanos, and the Cioffi's. There were more, but these housed the families that we knew and had befriended. Additionally there was the Papallo tavern - next to the house in which Rosa Ponselle, the opera star, was born. Actually she was born Rosa Ponzillo, and she lived above Papallo's Tavern. She was not always famous, and not always appreciated. Mr. Papallo often became rather perturbed at her constant practicing, and used to yell up to her to stop singing as she was driving everyone crazy. Of course that probably changed a bit when Enrico Caruso showed up one day in a "big fancy car" to fetch Rosa.

The Albanese grocery Store, the Bonazinga Bakery, the Tomasetti Store came next. After crossing Lewis Avenue, The Letteri Market, and finally Coiffi's Pizzeria were the major landmarks. Once at the pizzeria, we turned the corner at Springdale and Grove and headed toward Madeleine Dominelli's house - our grandmother.

It did not matter that to get there we had to walk about 2 miles, down a hill and up a bigger one. At that age they seemed like enormous hills. Upon returning to the neighborhood a few years ago, the hills had shrunk, and the neighborhood had no Italian names. Everything and everyone Italian were gone except the memories.

But what memories! Fifty-Four years later they are as vivid as if they happened yesterday. In some ways they did. It has been said that that the major responsibility a person has in life is to leave behind good memories. We agree. Our Grandmother did, and so did our Grandfather George, although his life was far too short. George Dominelli was born on February 1, 1888 in Martoni, Italy. Martoni is in the region of Calabria in the toe of Italy. George's father was Joseph and his Mom was Rosa Scali. We were not fortunate enough to ever meet our great grandparents. George died in 1941 at the age of 53 from pneumonia. Had he been more fortunate he would have contracted pneumonia a few years later when penicillin was available. As it turned out, however, he fooled the grim reaper at the age of 12. According to family history, he had taken ill with Scarlet Fever in Martoni, and after several weeks of fever was pronounced dead. He was dressed in a new suit, and laid in his casket. After the prayer ceremony at the cemetery, his godfather bent down to give him one last kiss, and felt a slight breath on his ear. O Dio, Georgio non e morte! George laughed when he told that story, and relished telling us that his "burial" suit was the only new suit that he ever got, and he had to "die" to get it. He was also pretty happy that in those days embalming was not practiced in the village.

Fast forward a few years to Meriden, Connecticut. George was in his twenties, and spied a lovely Italian girl that he decided was to be his wife. He put a ladder up to her bedroom window, and kidnapped her. Madeleine was fourteen at the time. By the age of 22, five children - 3 boys and two girls were born to the Dominellis. One was our mother - Elena or Eleanor.

Grandma was born Madeleine Donzello in Clinton, CT in 1898. Her birth was recorded in Wallingford, CT. No one knows why she was born in one city and the birth registered in another. I did meet her mother, great-grandmother Nicolina Donzello - nee Riccio, but never met great-grandfather Gaetano. He was away often.

We have only recently learned the details about our family genealogy. Needless to say, we knew nothing about where my grandparents came from as we made our way to Grandmother Madeleine's house after school, or on my way a movie on Saturday. None of that seemed important. What was important was the pizze fritte or the pancakes we were going to get once we got to her house. Madeleine was always cooking something. She was not only a great cook, but was able to make huge meals with very little cash outlay. A family joke was that because she wanted to use a single a chicken for a number of meals, she had it run through the water for soup with its boots on, thereby saving it for still another use.

The mystery of her pantry was always enticing. I would head there immediately after arriving to see what goodies were added since my last visit. I do not remember ever being denied access to whatever I found. Ditto for her refrigerator.

In her middle years Grandma worked in Kresge's, a large five and dime store in Meriden. She was responsible for the Millinery department. I often stopped there to say hello, and to have a bite to eat. Kresge's operated an in-store restaurant, and had a pretty good kitchen. My grandmother, knowing how hungry a young boy could get, made sure that I was treated right when it came to food. In a word, she had "pull" at the food counter.

Grandma Madeleine died at 96 years of age. Until she was 92 or so, she never seemed much older than she did when we were young. On her 90th birthday, we gave her a party. All the family was there, and she laughed and joked throughout. It was held in an upscale restaurant, and she handled it like she did this all the time. She looked so pretty and young. How can she have passed away so soon?

When she was about 95, she entered a convalescent hospital, but, like so many of the elderly, hated it. Too many rules, too many staff who cared little about the patients and more for their own conveniences. At the time, she was pretty miserable, and wanted to leave. One day when brother Pat was visiting her, she asked, "Honey, I wish you could get me a gun". Pat responded, "A gun? Aren't you too old for suicide? What would bethe point?"

Madeleine responded, "Kill myself? Are you crazy, I'd want to shoot thatdoctor, he's a stunad (moron)" Can't you imagine her making her getaway, gun in hand, racing toward the exit in her wheelchair, shouting "Out of my way or I'll shoot". What a grandmother!

San Luis Obispo, CA
and Middlebury, CT
July 16, 2001