Mom-mom Cappello

La Mia Famiglia

So, if you've read my previous entries, you'll know that my entire life has and continues to revolve around my family. I'm going to start this series with my grandmothers. The matriarchs of my family unit. They have an unbelievable amount of strength.  I watched them stand by their husbands while they were sick in the hospital and dying. I saw them stand resolute and reflective next to their husband's caskets at the funeral. I saw them continue on with their lives and support their family with unending love and devotion. I guess I'll start with the deceased and get the hard one over with first.

Helen

November 18, 1923- May 5, 2010



Picture was taken by my cousin's Mother in-law


Little Helen.. not even 5 foot tall, was a stubborn Pollock until the day she died. She grew up during the depression, and was put into an orphanage after her mother died. She and her sisters were eventually reunited with their father after he re-married (I think). From what I've been told, they had a rough life growing up. Something about a horrible stepmother and an alcoholic father. As a result she didn't drink and oftentimes came off as a tough mother. My father received no Christmas presents one year because he failed reading. Talk about a hard lesson to learn. If I'm correct, he was 6 or 7? or in 6th grade? Ok... you'll find alot of fuzzy details in this one since most of this stuff was talked about when I was a child and during mourning.


During World War II, she worked in a factory and apparently had a hand in building a piece of something to do with one of the A-bombs the U.S. dropped on Japan. Wow... I regret not getting all those details. She had her own war wound, but no Purple Heart. The tip of her index finger had to be amputated because of blood poisoning?... Maybe... That's another detail I should clarify with my father. Anyway... It's the injury that lead to a future nickname penned by my cousin who called her 9 3/4. :P (I think her friends might have had a hand in that. Not sure where it started)


As a grandchild, I only saw the smiling, loving side and know very little of the real facts about how she raised her children. She was very affectionate and would always rub your back or pat your leg when she was sitting next to you.


She was also quite funny. I'm not sure if it was because Polish was her first language or because she was old, but she didn't always understand our jokes. She would call my brother a "Sofa King" from the "Sofa King we tall did" joke (if you don't know what this is, you write it down and have someone read it. If it is said fast enough it comes out "So, fucking retarded."). Well, my brother did this and made her read it. She just didn't get it and it was hilarious! Whenever he did something silly, she would smack his arm and say, "Oh you Sofa King!" :P She also got some words wrong or flipped around. Her and my grandfather both loved to go to this restaurant near my parents' house called "Fuddruckers." Well, she called it "Mudder Fudders" and we still call it that. It's just too funny not to.


She was always proud of the smallest accomplishments, and would always tell us how "sharp" we looked even if we were wearing beat up old jeans and a messy ponytail. She loved to see her grandchildren living the American Dream. She was most proud with the completion of a college degree, the purchase of a house, or when she was given great-grandchildren.


Despite her rough childhood, and apparently sometimes rocky marriage (a youngsters perceived interpretation of what's been said. not sure how rocky it really was.), she had this life in her eyes. At her funeral everyone felt that she didn't look quite right, and it was all because we couldn't see her sparkling, smiling, blue eyes. She was the glue of the family after my grandfather passed away.  


Regardless of her past, she built a family full a love and respect. Her example allowed her children to be able to raise their own children to be successful, and compassionate adults. Now, as we build our families, we'll be able to create a happy and loving environment with a strong sense of family that sticks together through everything.


*This might get an edit... I don't think I have the writing skill to really do this woman any justice.