Seven Years Later....

The time passed quickly as Aunti Clara and Aunti Rosie grew up and wanted lives of their own.  There were many handsome Italian men to choose from in the mining communities around Winding Gulf, WV.   There was an understanding and a brotherhood among various Italian immigrant families that helped secure decisions for marriage for both Rosie and Clara.  They took care of their own, so to speak.  They also welcomed the Italian bootleggers coming in from Chicago from time to time.   Rosie had her eye on the clean cut man with the silver rim hat.  His name was Alfonzo Calleria and he spoke with a strong Italian accent that commanded her attention when he walked in her Father's store. 

The smell of fresh garlic and tomatoes cooking in the back kitchen was consistant with the clock chiming ten times in the morning.  Rosie would wait until Alfonzo passed the kitchen doorway before she would appear.  Alfonzo had a special place in his heart for this young lady and wondered why someone hadn't taken her out of this coal dust town.  One reason his fondness was geniune was because Rosie always a bowl of Gnocchi waiting for him and an extra helping for the road.  He was only there on business every other month.  It was September and he was running liquour and tobacco for a big group out of Chicago.  It was great money and he was well known for being on time and respecting who he worked for.  Soon, he approached Rosie about leaving Winding Gulf and marrying him.  The plan was to move to Chicago in the Spring with a promise that she be able to come back for visits when he came back to make his runs.  The big question would have to be discussed with her Father, Antonio.  And Rosie wondered if her Father would ever consent to her leaving the family and the coal dust to start her own life in another foreign land...Chicago.

Rosie Cumbo Calleria is standing 2nd left then Jake's second wife Mary, Aunt Italy then Aunt Clara(not sure who the first lady on left is).

 



  I did not know Rosie because she lived so far away and she did not return to Appalachian Mountains after she began having children, raising them and starting her own grocery store in downtown Chicago.

 

Clara Cumbo was someone I definitely remember.  We would go over to her home in Beckley, WV for dinner in the summer months to eat Spaghetti, Salad, Bread and Watermelon.  We had the best time with Aunt Tootsie, as we nicknamed her.  She loved my sister Jeanine who happened to look like an Italian princess.  She doted on my brother Chip and loved up on me with big strong hugs and a pinch on my cheek everytime we were saying our goodbyes at her front door.  She was a jolly but sometimes stubborn Italian woman who had to have her way...which is probably one reason little Tony came to live with the Cumbo's when he was a baby.

 

I am repeating some of this story about Clara in the next post because of my fondest of two strong memories of her.