It smelled like sweet Jersey tomatoes and charlie perfume. The sound of laughter traveled throughout the house and across the alley. Aunt Carol is talking to my Mommom about Christmas and their trip, coming up, to Jim Thorpe. They have been planning the trip for months. Uncle Rob is sitting in the living room showing my brother’s “magic” tricks he learned off of Youtube. No weight on our shoulders, no worries, only the pure joy we shared being with one another. They had taken a trip to New Jersey earlier that morning to pick up some fresh fruit and vegetables such as oranges, apples, and of course, sweet jersey tomatoes. Mercy Me or Hillsong on the stereo while drinking tea, just waiting for the tomato jelly to finish cooling. Anytime she would come to my Mommom’s house, she would bring some nick-knacks and cute dollar store gifts for me and my brother’s. Her favorite hobby was crocheting. She would make doll clothes, scarves, hats, tablemats and even gloves. She was definitely talented with crocheting. Her house had so many nick-knacks and antiques, and lots and lots of cats. Her heart was so big, if she saw a cat outside in the winter without a home, she would give it a home.
On a sunday afternoon, right after morning service at church, they would take a ride to “Shady Maple” for some brunch and a nice day out. My Aunt Carol loved Shady Maple. Just getting out of the city was all she could ever ask for. Over the summer, mid-july, my aunt Carol and uncle Rob would come over and have a barbeque in my Mommom’s backyard. We would have hamburgers, hotdogs, barbeque chicken on the grill, and let’s not forget my Mommom’s famous potato salad. At the end of the day, my aunt Carol would come over to our house and take a “dip” in the pool. She couldn’t be more happy to be in our backyard pop-up pool.
Her door was always open. If you needed a place to stay or a person to talk to, even if it was four o'clock in the morning, she would be there for you. When my mom was a little girl, she would go to my aunt Carol’s house, not on a school night of course, and have a sleepover. She would take her down to the corner shop of her street and let her pick out any candy and five dollar pockabook she wanted. She did the same thing with me when I was little. Carol’s brother’s Jimmy and David, would (every once in awhile) come over and visit her or my mommom. Unfortunately, it was not as often as she would have preferred. My aunt Carol has two children named Ron and Roxanne. They have children of their own named James, John, David and Sabrina. The love she would give to family and friends is more than anyone could ever ask for.
If anyone ever asked her who her favorite musician was, she would say Neil Young.
She lived in a row home in Philadelphia, with her husband Robert Disipio. They have two children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. She owned a lot of cats, and fed the neighborhood cats everyday. She invited everyone to her house to have tea and cookies and to talk as one big family. When she would hug you, you would feel a sense of warmth and safeness. She was the person you could go to if you were in trouble, sad, happy or all of the above, she would always make you feel better. It did not take much for her to be happy. All she ever wanted was for someone to talk with her over a hot cup of tea. The last trip my aunt Carol and Mommom took was a weekend getaway to “Jim Thorpe.” They had been planning the trip for months. My mommom explains that it was the happiest she had ever seen Carol. The weight had been lifted off their shoulders. They felt “on top of the world.” Sand slipped through their toes and wind blew through their hair as they had breakfast out by the lake. My Mommom had just gotten a new phone before the trip and a memory I will always have is them trying to take a “selfie” in the hotel mirror. My mommom said “in that moment, there was not a moment of worry, regret or sadness. We could not stop laughing. That was the happiest I have ever been.” I myself, have never seen two women more happy and overjoyed than my Mommom and aunt Carol on the weekend getaway to “Jim Thorpe.”
In the kitchen, the day my aunt Carol and Uncle Rob came over to my Mommom’s house, we had made tomato jelly and we were waiting for it to cool. Once the tomato jelly cooled, we all became “taste tester’s.” My Mommom took a fresh loaf of sarcone bread, cut us each a slice. She would spread the freshly made jelly on the slice of bread and then put cheese and grapes out to go with the bread and jelly. At the end of the day we would say our goodbye’s and send them home. Never would I have thought, that would be the last time I saw her. She was a great woman who was well respected and loved. I will never be able to take a walk with her down to the corner store to pick out a pockabook I like or a sleepover. Never will my Mommom be the same. Seeing my Mommom, lost with no direction or words hurt me most of all. My Mommom is the most important and influential person in my life. I feel what she feels, if she is happy, I am happy. If she is sad, I am sad. I will never forget her, or the way my Mommom was with her. She will always be in our thoughts. This is a scene in my life which I long for.
Goodbye Aunt Carol.
Linda (Mommom) on the left: Carol on the right