Mario and Carm

Our son-in-law Mario used to say to my husband, “Pop, please try to find me a beauty shop someplace not too far from Closter. I would love to live in the country.” Tony would always say that he couldn't find a place. He knew Mario's parents only had him and he figured Mario should not leave them.

I got my hair done at a small beauty parlor right in Closter. The hair dresser would say, “If I could sell this place I would go to Florida to live.”

One day I said to her, “Are you just kidding or are you talking that way because you are upset about something?”

She said, “No, I mean it.”

I said, “Well, if you mean it, I have a friend who is interested in buying it.”

We said to Mario, “Do you know that if you come to Closter and live, you will be leaving your parents?”

Mario said, “If I'm happy, it will make my parents happy.”

We got Mario and the hairdresser to meet each other at my house and talk over the deal. A few days later Mario went to see the beauty parlor. He liked it. Carmela had a thousand dollars which she gave to Mario to help make the down payment. They got a mortgage from the bank. They couldn't find an apartment near Closter right away, so they lived with us for four months. They had a grand opening. Mario's parents, grandmother, aunts and uncles all came. Carmela was about four months pregnant.

On January 31, 1954, Carm and Mario were blessed with a little baby girl. They named her Therese. Carmela and Mario had moved into a four room apartment they had found in Closter just before Therese was born.

My husband and I were now blessed with three beautiful granddaughters. We loved them all. We had the three families and babies to dinner quite often; sometimes we baby-sat for them. We helped our children in any way we could.