Not sure any words of mine will ever be adequate to describe how I feel about my Mom.
She was a living demonstration of love towards all three of her children every day of her life.
As it is with perfect love she protected all of us loving each one equally and never showing predilection for any one of us. I believe this is not always true. She boldly and confidently guided her children often shielding us from things and information that might have harmed us at the time. Even later when I was well into my forties she was able to exercise her incredible foresight and shield all three of us, when even I, as the eldest son, missed seeing where it was necessary.
Born in Mina New York, Beatrice Elaine Jersey was the older of two daughters born to a Jewish father and a Gentile mother. She described herself as tomboy or girl who liked to do all sorts of physical activities that in those days would have been considered better suited for boys.
Although Aunt Juanita later became even more athletic than Mom, being four years older Mom would watch over and sometimes carry her younger sister around on her shoulders whenever my aunt got tired.
As mother got older she was taller than most of the other girls in her age group and sometimes felt a little awkward because of her added height.
She often wondered why her teacher would not call on her and became bored in class. She would then pretend to look out the window so that the teacher would take note of her, assuming that she was day dreaming, and then finally call on her to participate in the classroom discussion.
In her very early twenties she was trained, hired and kept for several years a job as an administrative assistant for the owner of a company in the city of Chicago. Mom became an excellent stenographer and very good at typing.
But looking again out of the window from her present life Mom longed to be able to go somewhere and do something different. She longed to see and experience the cultures of other lands and dreamed of going around the world.
Then all of a sudden when she was about 23 years of old Howard Hughes ran an ad in the local Chicago paper looking for stewardesses for his new airline, TWA. Mom applied and was accepted into the training program for hostesses or stewardesses. Later an article was published in the Chicago paper with a photo of all the new TWA stewardesses.
And so Mom landed one of the most desirable careers for a young American woman in those days.
She travelled all over the Middle East and other European countries and was even sent to Egypt. There a wealthy older Arab befriended her and wanted her to marry him. Many years later she would have me put on the thawb for the Italian holiday of Carnevale and I remember asking her why I should wear an Arab headdress. I think Mom may have never forgotten the food, dress and culture of the Arab world!
But God had other plans in mind for my future mother and he opened another window for her to look through. Mom flew out of Cairo into Rome and upon landing there was directed by some other TWA employees to go to my Dad’s office on Via Crispi to change her US dollars into Italian lire.
Speaking in flawless American English Dad invited her out for dinner on the spot. They became friends immediately and ended up both giving up any suitors or girlfriends they may have had up to then.
Dad asked Mom to marry him pretty soon after that but Mom was not sure whether she should until one day she said she held his arm and from that moment on she felt she should marry him.
Seven months after first meeting they were married in the Campidoglio in Rome.
Mom worked with Dad in his office to help him with his business and in critical moments she saved him for what might have been some big problems. She was the one that encouraged him to hire several other key men that later were instrumental in running his different businesses. Dad listened to and valued mother’s advice. The greatest praises Dad ever gave in my presence were to my very dear Mom.
My Mom was more than perfect to me and I told her that several times and I miss her.