Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

I just had a very nice visit with my mother and father … in a dream. They have both been gone for way over 20 years and I’m just trying to figure out what they were trying to tell me.

I asked my father if he wanted to be buried with his Yankees hat and he said yes. Well, that didn’t happen because I still have the hat.

Dad was in the kitchen making some eggs and toast then all of a sudden, he came and sat in the living room and I said what happened to your breakfast? And he said he didn’t like the way the toast tasted with the butter that was in the fridge. So, I went to the fridge and got him the “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!” and told him it tasted better than the whipped butter that he used.

My mother really didn’t say much. There was a puddle near the sink and she got a cloth and sopped it up. Dad found an old note that had fallen behind something and it said, “Call Louise Scott.” Louise was the landlady and our good friend when we lived on Pearson Ave. up until 1961, when we bought the Hall Ave. house. I had spoken to Louise ‘s daughter Paula yesterday.

Then my father came and sat in the chair that I’m looking at right now. I remember touching his cheek. And that’s when I asked if he wanted to be buried in his Yankees hat. He suggested changing the subject.

It’s only the second time I had a dream about my father and mother since they passed away in 1987 and 1994. It was really nice to see him and mom. I really miss them.

Since then, I haven’t dreamed of my parents. I have an annoying recurring nightmare involving one of my old bosses. He’s been renting space in my subconscious since the first day he fired me. I wish they would stop. He annoyed me enough in real life and now he’s annoying me in my sleep!

Once a while back I had a dream. I was in Davis Square back working at Woolworths, where I worked in 1969. I was behind the luncheonette counter again making grilled cheese sandwiches, hot dogs and frappes, and all the other goodies. That was a great dream. I woke up craving a grilled frankfurter, free of course.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could actually go back in time to the place is that we loved? That would certainly be a dream come true. Two-way traffic in Davis Square, tons of bars, two five and ten stores and all the other stores we loved, like Gorin’s and Parke Snows.

The photos are my mom in front of Gorin’s after the Blizzard of 78, and dad in our kitchen. I miss all the old stores but I miss mom and dad more. Thank goodness for precious photos and priceless memories. What I wouldn’t give to join my mother and father for a nice lunch at the Waldorf. Maybe that will be my next dream!