L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D ear read- ers, Mothe r's Day was o b s e r v e d d i f f e r e n t l y this year, due to social dis- tancing and other pandemic restrictions. You may recall how when pushed to reopen businesses sooner rather than later, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo spoke about priori- tizing the saving of lives above economic expediency: "My mother is not expend- able, " her said. We will not put a dollari figure on human life, thereby, making his mother Matilda, and all other senior citizens in this country, victims of economic necessity as much as of a vi- rus. Andrew Cuomo, named after his paternal grandfa- t h e r A n d r e a C u o m o , h a s used his televised briefings t o l e v e l w i t h t h e p u b l i c about the risks of opening the economy too soon. *** G o v e r n o r A n d r e w Cuomo's mother "Matilda" was born Mattia Raffa in New York in 1931, to par- ents, Mary (née Gitto) Raffa ( d . 1 9 9 5 ) a n d C a r m e l o "Charles" Raffa (d.1988), who had immigrated to the U n i t e d S t a t e s f r o m Messina, Sicily. After arriv- ing in the United States in 1 9 2 7 , h e r f a t h e r C h a r l e s worked to obtain his own firm, making supermarket shelves and refrigeration units, and went on to invest in real estate. Matilda is the m i d d l e c h i l d o f f o u r s i b - lings, with older brothers Frank and Sam and younger brother Joseph and sister Nancy. W h e n C u o m o ' s g r a n d - m o t h e r , w h o c o u l d o n l y speak Italian at the time, attempted to register her daughter for kindergarten at a Brooklyn elementary school, the principal and school registrar threw both out of the registration line. Y e a r s l a t e r h i s m o t h e r Matilda recalled the regis- trar yelling, "Get Mrs. Raffa out of here and tell her she can come back when she can speak English." D u r i n g e l e m e n t a r y s c h o o l , R a f f a ' s t e a c h e r s called her Matilda, rather than her birth name, Mattia, which she accepted initially out of fear. The name stuck and she has used Matilda e v e r s i n c e . F i r s t L a d y o f N e w Y o r k f r o m 1 9 8 3 t o 1994, Matilda Raffa Cuomo met Mario Cuomo in 1951, in the cafeteria at St. John's University in Queens, where they were both enrolled in school. The pair married on J u n e 5 , 1 9 5 4 . M a t i l d a Cuomo worked as a teacher and supported her husband w h i l e h e c o m p l e t e d l a w school at St John's graduat- i n g w i t h a J u r i s D o c t o r degree in 1956. Reported as "one of the great love sto- ries," their close public and private partnership lasted 64 years until Mario's death in 2015. M a t i l d a a n d h e r l a t e h u s b a n d M a r i o h a d f i v e children together, daughters M a r g a r e t , M a r i a a n d Madeline, and sons Andrew and Christopher. Her oldest son Andrew Cuomo is New Y o r k ' s 5 6 t h g o v e r n o r . Daughter Maria Cuomo Cole is an award winning film producer of Newtown and T h e I n v i s i b l e W a r . H e r youngest son is television journalist Chris Cuomo, a CNN newscaster. Daughter Margaret Cuomo is a noted p h y s i c i a n s p e c i a l i z i n g i n radiology. *** During his news confe- rences, Cuomo often speaks about his heritage and fami- g l i a . R e c e n t l y , h e s p o k e about his paternal grand- father, Italian immigrant Andrea Cuomo, who came from the province of Salerno to America with no educa- tion, as a ditch digger. A classical immigrant story. He winds up having a little g r o c e r y s t o r e i n S o u t h Jamaica, Queens's poorest c o m m u n i t y . D u r i n g t h e Depression, he almost lost the store and he loved to tell t h e s t o r y . W h y d i d h e a l m o s t l o o s e t h e s t o r e ? Well, you would think it was Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. due to the Depression and the finances being so bad. No, it was because he gave away food during those hard time, because he wouldn't let anyone be hungry. A fam- ily would come in, nobody h a d m o n e y a n d h e w o u l d give them food. He was giv- ing away so much food that he had problems paying his bills and it gave him a lot of stress. He wound up having a h e a r t a t t a c k a s a y o u n g person, but no one told him to do that. That was just his values. Andrew would ask h i m a b o u t i t a f t e r w a r d s , "Grandpa, why would you..." He said, "What am I going to do? Let them go hungry? I'm g o i n g t o l e t s o m e b o d y g o hungry?" That was unimag- i n a b l e t o h i m . H e w a s a n e s s e n t i a l w o r k e r . N o b o d y called him an essential work- er but he was an essential worker and that's what some people are doing today dur- ing this world crisis. We have such a rich heritage! *** Nursery Rhymes and Riddles (indovinelli) used to amuse us little Italian- American bambini when we had to shelter indoors. Here are a couple of my favorites, but I am not sure if today's television toddlers will find them so. The Snail Lumaca lumachina, Non correr, poverina! - Io corro quando posso Ma ci ho la casa addosso! Snail, oh little snail Poor you, don't run! — I run when I can, Don't forget I wear my home! The Italian Boot Indovina bene o male: c'è un magnifico stivale, bello, grande e ben forma- to, non ha suola nè tomaio non l'ha fatto un calzolaio Guess it right or wrong: There's a wonderful boot, Beautiful, large and well shaped, It has no sole nor upper and it wasn't made by a shoemaker! THE NICEST PEOPLE HAVE A ROOT IN THE BOOT

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