European Cuisine Conquers the Midwest

Saturday, October 2, 2010

On Saturday, my aunt and uncle treated us to lunch at a delightful French café in a small shopping center only a couple miles from their home. This is one of their favorite spots, and they frequently lunch here on weekends. Since all the staff knew them by name, and even knew their drink and meal preferences, they must surely be frequent patrons here. The food was excellent. The company was even better.

After dinner, we spent a couple hours with my Aunt looking through some old family photos (really old family photos – from the 1920s and 1930s) as well as some old family correspondence. The most interesting of the correspondence – to me – was a series

of four (4) letters written by my grandfather (my father’s father) to my grandmother in the year before they were married.Following lunch, we spent a couple hours shopping at the Plaza. The cornerstone store here is the Halls department store – which is a high-end store, much like a Nordstroms. We also shopped at the local grocery story because it was our plan (mine and Lisa’s) to make a nice Italian dinner for my aunt and uncle. The menu consisted of veal cutlets, risotto Milanese, green beans with olive oil and dill, and salad. Carla and Rocky joined us for dinner as well.

My grandmother had been previously married but was widowed at a very young age. Her first husband was a firefighter in Springfield, Massachusetts, and he had the very sad distinction of being the first Springfield firefighter to be killed in the line of duty. At the time of his death, he left behind not only my grandmother but their four year old daughter, my Aunt Rena.

Shortly after her first husband’s tragic death, my grandmother and her young daughter left Springfield and returned home to Portalbera, Italy – where her family could assist in providing for her and her daughter. Prior to my grandmother’s departure from the US, however, she had been introduced to my grandfather, who was similarly widowed and also had a young daughter. My grandfather must have been immediately taken with my grandmother because, after her departure from Springfield, he began to correspond with her in Italy.

My Aunt Rena has copies of four of my grandfather’s letters to my grandmother in Italy. They are real gems. They are so conservative in tone and yet they are very touching – as my grandfather slowly worked at convincing my grandmother to return to the United States and marry him. I never knew either one of my father’s parents. They both died long before I was born. These letters provide great insight into their character and their life together.