What Will They Remember?(Charles A. Mazzarella) What Will They Remember?

Laundry fluttered on the line as a warm Spring breeze dried the last of my grandmother’s towels and sheets. I had just arrived home from school and pointed to the line. As our gazes met, she said, “It makes the clothes smell better.” She would now be out once or twice a week to hang her clothes to dry in the warmer air of the days as they quickly approach summertime. Soon, it will be too hot to dry them this late in the day and she’ll be out in the morning sometime. She keeps fairly active for a lady about to be eighty. Her van approaches after we have all left for school or work and she fills her days attending “Senior Cids”, the social groups in town and across the river where she meets up with her peers; senior citizens all. She eats better than I do and likes to walk in town when her ‘arthuritis’, as she calls it, is not acting up.

I am glad to be home after a long week of school. I know that we don’t have to go back until Tuesday and will enjoy swimming on Memorial Day. Grandma Jennie is busy making dough for the pizzas she makes for dinner on the weekend. I go inside to let the dog out and fill his water bowl. He rests in the shade as I go in to see how the pizza is coming along. She asks me to set the picnic table outside where we will all have our supper. I then can make the lemonade to start its’ chill in the refrigerator.

Grandma is a short but hearty Italian woman that was born in this country. Her husband Michael passed away over 20 years ago and she never remarried; that is the way with most of these old timers, unless you come from money, which we do not. Her name is Carmella Gennitara Gallitano Cassini but I call her Gennie. She likes to keep busy but also knows how to relax.

We have a TV in the screened in porch outside and I turn it on and then let flip through an old magazine I found nearby. Gennie comes out as the TV is warmed up and turns up the volume. The local weatherman is telling about a great forecast for the upcoming holiday weekend. “Expect temperatures to be in the 80’s throughout the weekend. There is no rain in the forecast, so that should be good for all you travelers and the parades that will be held throughout our area. The lows will be in the 50’s through the valley and in the upper 40’s in the higher regions.” He continues as he settles in his chair at the news desk, “So, get out there and enjoy the weekend. But, as always, be safe while traveling and driving on our roads. Back to you Susan.” ‘Thanks Tom.’ The banter continues as I go in my grandmother’s house to get some lemonade.

I see she is ready to knead the dough and let it proof for thirty minutes. I asked her about that and she said, “Well Georgie, the dough has to double in size and allow the yeast to make it more light and crispy for a good crust. That’s how to make a Good Margherita, with good ingredients and patience.” She went on to explain the pizza, as I have seen her make it before. “Other people use so many different ingredients. One lady at the Center started putting chicken on her pizza, with the sauce and cheese. I think that would be too heavy, so I stick to what I like: fresh sauce or crushed tomatoes and Basil, preferably from the garden, Mozzarella, good olive oil, salt, pepper and that’s it.” Her pizza is always good and I am sometimes teased by the smell when I get home from school. I have to make it a point to learn how she makes all this great stuff, especially the cookies she bakes for Easter and Christmas. It looks like a lot of work but she seems to enjoy it. I finish setting the table, grab some ice and pour us each some lemonade as we return outside to wait for the sleepy dough to be ready.

Susan from the local station is back on reporting a story. “In other news today, famed actress Jeanette MacDonald died at home after suffering from a long illness. She was 89. She is well remembered for being a humanitarian while she was an actress. She continued these generous acts up until a few years ago when she became too ill to travel very far. She has left a legacy for us to see in the many movies that she loved so much. The funeral will be Tuesday and she will be laid to rest at the Hollywood Hills Memorial Cemetery. The turn out of other actors and fans is expected to be vast. She will be missed. (pause) We’ll be back in a moment.” Gennie turns the TV off and starts to tell me about how she remembers the Hollywood legend.

“Your grandfather and I would love to go to the movies, especially to see people like her. She always gave a good performance. She would act and sing, but never danced. Have you ever seen any of her movies George?” I think a little while and say, “Yes. The Christmas movie she was in is on every year. And, I think I may have seen her in a War movie. But, I didn’t know she sang.” Gennie continued, “Oh my yes. She would sing with Nelson Eddy and Allan Jones, and she was in a few comedies with The Marx Bothers and others. We enjoyed her movies and she was from a different time in Hollywood; a more sincere time. When your Uncle was in Korea, she was there with other actors, as part of the USO, to help entertain the troops. I may even have her picture around here somewhere.” I told her that I would be interested to see that.

While we sipped our lemonade, I asked her what she thought of the movies today. She said, “There are some good ones. But I think the older ones had better stories, especially those detective ones. For me it is good to watch them on that new station. I think Hollywood was not as tarnished as it seems to be today. We learn too much of their gossip. I don’t want to hear all that. I just wonder if we really need to know all their secrets: who got plastic surgery or how much money they spend on beauty cream. Back then, they may have been reckless at times with their money, but they were more exclusive and seemed to be more involved in the community.”

In their defense, I said of some actors today, “But Gramma, there are actors that help people still. They make being an actor look fun and it all looks so exciting. “That may be George, but back when I was younger and Hollywood was still new, there was a different feeling about the place. It was revered and actors had more class than from what I can see today. The younger people today can learn a few things from how Jeanette MacDonald held herself in the spotlight and how generous she was with her time and her care for others who have so little.” Grandma made sense. I still think it would be great to have all of that money, live in a big house, drive a few sports cars, and travel anywhere I may want. I did not mention this to Gennie though. As it was about forty minutes, Gennie figured the dough had risen enough. She came out twenty minutes later with the first of four pies in the oven. She said I could make the next two after the perfunctory but vital washing of the hands.

My sister came home after her practice, stopped in to say ‘Hi’ and then attended to her needs. She took the dog for a short constitutional, washed her hands and went on the front porch to call her friends. I made the next two pizzas while the others cooled on Gramma’s dining room table. My parents would be arriving soon and within the hour, we should all be sitting down for supper. Gennie checked on the roasted chicken and made a quick salad.

We resumed our discussion of old Hollywood. Gramma explained that she was born before radio and TV, so entertainment was quite different. “All the neighbors and family would get together at times and listen to music that was played by the musicians in the group. We would go to the lake, like we still do, and have big pasta dinners. There would be games for the kids and the adults would play Bocci, sew, or talk in Italian about their old days. Radio came around when I was in my teens and movies did not become too popular until I was married to your Grampa Mike. People would go to the movies in those early days, but there would be musicians, in the theatre, to play music, and you had to read the actor’s words off the screen. I never liked those older movies. So, as you can see, we made our own fun. Life seemed to change when TV became very popular and radio changed from stories to all music.”

“Before Radio, there was Burlesque and Vaudeville, variety shows that would travel throughout the country to entertain the people; in the cities and in the farm towns. Radio always had news, sports and music, but it also had comedies and dramas. The old traveling shows were broadcast on radio so many more people could listen from the comfort of their home. Jeanette McDonald started out on those stage shows then went to Broadway while doing radio shows in the big cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. She finally became an actress and was famous by that time. Many people had heard her but never saw her. That was how things were when you performed on radio. She was beautiful as well as talented. Well, I think you can put those other pizzas in now, Georgie.”

I thought about this as I placed the pizzas in the oven and refilled our lemonade glasses; I knew I would have to make more, and did. “Gram, why do think people were different when you were younger?” She responded, “Maybe it was the Great Depression. That shook the country. And, then the War. We had less, had some fun, and had to again deal with less. The Depression prepared us to get through World War II. We vowed never to be as broken as that again. The movies were about the war and a more glamorous time we missed or would hopefully see again. When we had to ration almost everything, it made us get used to having less and in some ways, brought us together. Like Jeanette McDonald; she was from that time and showed us on screen that life will be better and we benefit from helping each other. I just don’t see that as much today. Those that have must give. Today’s politicians, actors, any one in the news, seem to be buying more for themselves rather than spending their time and money helping others. Maybe they are unhappy. I know they are greedy. What’s important kiddo, is this: we have to be happy with who we are, despite if we are very rich or very poor. Our family is happy and we never have had that much. I hope you are happy being yourself and you love your family, and that dog. I know I am happy but have had a lot of time to think about that.”

My family had our supper, finally, as I was hungry from the smell of Gennie’s pizza. Sometimes it is difficult to be patient. We had Cantaloupe, pizza, the roasted chicken and some salad. We talked about our day and how we looked forward to the parade, going to lake, and the end of the school year that was near. Sunday would bring a ride to the lake, maybe to swim, but at least a few hours fishing from our rented boat. My dad and I would fish while the ladies would shop or take a walk. We would all end the day at the Amusement park, where even my grandmother enjoyed the carousel.

Memorial Day brought the traditional parade in town where the neighboring fire departments would drive their recently shined trucks downtown. The highlight of the gathering, for we locals, would be when Victor Dixon would race his antique bicycle, bedecked with streamers, up and down the road, for the kids to see his balancing ability. Everyone would clap and this made Victor, an old war veteran, smile. I would march with the Boy Scouts and my sister would march with the Girl Scouts or, when she was younger, the mini football cheerleaders. We would all take a drive up to a nearby cemetery to visit on Memorial Day.

This is where Grampa Mike is buried. Gennie likes to say a little prayer by his side as the newly placed American flags would flutter in the wind. She may take a short walk and tell her husband whatever may be on her mind. He was a veteran of World War One. Later on in life, I would join the Army and be stationed where his old unit relocated to. In recent years, I have come to realize how special a place like a cemetery can be.

On the ride to my aunt’s house for dinner on this holiday, I thought about something my grandmother had said. Jeanette McDonald was able to influence, even slightly, many people over the years. Gennie thinks we may be less considerate of others, and in her opinion, this is true, especially in Hollywood, or for the ones that get their name in the news so often. I saw a groundskeeper far off when my grandmother was taking her walk. I wondered what he thought about the people he has to look after. A sign at the cemetery read, ‘Eternal Rest and Perpetual Care’. Some one has to cut the grass at the cemetery, where there is always a job to do and they have to put a fence around the place, because people are dying to get in.

I thought about the actress that Gennie will really miss. The starlet will be buried tomorrow and someone will soon have to attend to her grave and the grass and flowers that grow around. I wondered what that caretaker at Hollywood Hills Memorial thinks about the names on the graves he sees everyday at work. Will he think that this actress effected life in some way? Or, will he say to himself, “Boy, the place is getting bigger and bigger every year” as he mows the grass over the now, so many unspoken accomplishments.

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