Mangia! Mangia!
The words lie behind the photograph
ANTOINETTE JACKSON

It's one of my favorite photographs. Taken in 1925, it shows my mother at the age of 18. Mary Falcetta is sitting on a low fence at the side of a brick apartment building. She is wearing a dress with a modest neckline, a white scarf at her neck and she's wrapped in a black fur coat with a corsage pinned to her right lapel.

Her legs are crossed in a ladylike fashion; her head is tilted slightly to the side in what she would have called a "come hither" look. And the expression on her face is hauntingly and mysteriously sad.

Parked on the street to her left are three vehicles, perhaps Model T's. Standing at the rear of the last one is a gentleman in a straw hat and white shirtsleeves who appears to putting something onto the back platform of the vehicle.

In the distant background is a huge brick building with three tall and several shorter smokestacks. The front of the factory has huge white block letters that spell out Bowman Dairy.

The sepia colored snapshot has been in our family album for years. It tells an interesting story which I, regrettably, failed to ask my mother to tell me.

Mary Falcetta, circa 1925

It was probably taken when the Falcetta family lived in Chicago's Little Italy on Paulina Street. Across the alley in another apartment building, lived the infamous bootleggers, the Genna Brothers.

Mom often told the story of how she was in the bathroom on the commode when she heard an explosion coming from the Genna's apartment. She was so frightened that she shuffled out of the bathroom with her panties still around her ankles. She was such a sight, that rather than comforting her, her parents and siblings greeted her with laughter.

Could the man in the photo with straw hat be Jim or Pete Genna in the process of loading up moonshine? I should have asked.

I'm curious why Mom is wearing a fur coat with a corsage pinned to it. It couldn't have been her birthday, because she was born in July. With no leaves on the ground or the scrawny tree in back of her, it was probably early spring or late fall.

Did the fur coat belong to her or her older sister? Frances was two years older and enjoyed dressing in the latest styles.

My guess is that Aunt Frances used her paycheck to buy clothes and the fur coat, while my mother was more conservative with her earnings.

Mom probably borrowed the coat while Aunt Frances' boyfriend Jack took the photo. But, I didn't think to ask about that.

And why does Mom have a sad expression on her face? It would still be another nine years before she married Matthew Chiarenza. Was she sad because there was no important man in her life?

Or was she weary from family responsibilities? While her sister Frances was older, it fell upon Mary to look after her younger brothers Laurence and Frank and her sister Laura. Was Mom tired of being their caretaker? I should have asked.

I came across the photo this week and started toward the telephone to call my mother. Like so many times during the last nine years, I remembered that my mother is no longer on this earth to answer my questions.

And once again, I admonished myself. Why was I so wrapped up in my own life that I forgot to slow down for a week or a day or even an afternoon? We could have sat at her kitchen table while I asked her to tell me about this favorite photo.

Her eyes would have danced at the opportunity to think back at the story about the Genna Brothers.

She would have turned sad when she told me how empty her life was before she met Daddy. Then, she probably would have told me once again how she met Daddy at a wedding, dated and broke up. And, when she was 27 years old, how they met again and this time married.

Unfortunately, that conversation will not happen on this side of Heaven and I can only speculate how the photograph was taken.

Miss you, Mom. Wish I had asked.

Pasta with Tuna Sauce

Mom also helped her mother with the cooking. Perfect for the days of Meatless Fridays, this pasta dish was a staple. Economical and easy to prepare, it's still a good choice for any day of the week.
      3   tablespoons   extra   virgin   olive   oil,
divided
      3 cloves garlic, minced
      1 small onion, sliced
      1 / 4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
      1 teaspoon sugar
      1/4 teaspoon black pepper
      1 15 ounce can tomatoes
      1   6 ounce can tuna, preferably Italian
style, flaked
      Salt to taste
      6 ounces penne, cooked
      Optional:   1/4   cup   seasoned   breadcrumbs,
            browned in 1 tablespoon extra virgin
    olive oil.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large frying pan and saut the garlic until just golden. Add the onion to the pan and saut until translucent. Add seasonings and tomatoes to the pan and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Add tuna and simmer five more minutes. Taste, adding salt if necessary.

Serve over cooked penne with optional browned seasoned breadcrumbs. Serves 3.

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Antoinette Jackson is a Bullard-area resident. You may reach her at Antojxn@aol.com.