Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

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I can’t believe I have never written an entire article about my mother, Gerry Del Ponte. After all, today IS Mother’s Day, so here goes.

My mom, Geraldine Del Ponte, graduated from Somerville High School in 1944. Now, I am going to try to reconstruct her life the best I can because I am running out of people who were there to ask. Her maiden name was Artone, and she had four brothers: Bernardino, (Bunny) Mike, Joe and Carl. There were also three sisters: Bea, Madeline (Molly) and baby sister Anna, the only living sibling. Their mother died when Anna and my mom were very young, so Bea and Molly actually raised their two sisters.

She met my dad at St Anthony’s Church, where she taught Sunday school. They were married in 1951, and my sister Christine, I and my brother Joe came along in ’52,’53 and ‘56. Mom loved her kids fiercely. On our trip to California in 1969, she was in the airplane’s bathroom when a return to your seat due to turbulence announcement came over the speakers. She rushed out of the restroom still tucking in her shirt yelling, “I want to be with my children!” That was mom: very dramatic. That’s probably where I get it.

She was obsessed with keeping a clean house. I definitely did not inherit that quality from her. She was a gourmet cook and loved entertaining. She wrote poetry in high school, and there are some of her writings in the cellar. She also knew every song ever written and had a pretty nice singing voice.

Mom always encouraged my music and theatre interests. She would constantly sing around the house and bought us records like Tubby The Tuba that taught about the orchestra. She literally forced me to see Project STAR’s production of West Side Story in 1967 – and it changed my life. She loved listening to my friends and me playing Mr. Tambourine Man on our guitars in the backyard.

After we all got out of high school, she went back to work as a social worker at the Somerville welfare office in Davis Square as her headquarters. She always got emotionally involved with her cases. She loved having her co-workers over for lunch and would set the table before she left for work. It was a three-minute walk from Davis Square, so she had plenty of time to get home and play hostess. She always beamed with pride if I sat at the piano and sang a few songs for her friends after they ate. It was very important to her, so I always agreed to play for Bertha, Louise, Roz and Shelia. Mom’s favorite song was Angel of the Morning. I’d give anything to be able to play for her today.

Mom and I had our problems. One was the fact that I kept a very messy room and I wouldn’t answer the phone when the Somerville School Department would call at 7 a.m. to see if I could substitute teach. She used to bang on my door and say, “If you’re not going to go in and teach, tell them to stop calling!” I actually did quite a bit of substitute teaching, but I also caused mom a lot of stress. Sorry, mom. She knew how much I loved The Beatles and actually woke me up and told me the bad news about John Lennon being shot.

Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1985. She was operated on and we hoped for the best. I moved to Florida in 1986, and she actually flew down and spent a week with me. Too bad the weather wasn’t that great during that week, but my brother flew down and we all went to Disney World (see photo). It was her last vacation. Mom’s cancer returned, and I left Florida to help Dad at home. He started calling me his “right-hand man” because I was there to help with Mom’s last days. Thankfully, my sister had a lovely baby girl in 1982 who really perked things up for Mom in her final days. She told her granddaughter to take a walk in the rain for her every once in a while, and she has done just that for the last 27 years.

We lost Mom in 1987, but she started a strong family that has endured many high points, as well as lots of sadness, like any other family. But it’s Moms strength and love that she instilled in me that keeps me on the straight and narrow. She now has three grandkids and a 5-month-old great-granddaughter! Hey, Mom, look what you started! Two of the grandkids never got to meet her, but I make sure I keep her memory alive.

Every so often I will sit at the piano and play Angel of the Morning, because Mom is now my angel! I will be sure to play it for her on Mother’s Day. Happy Mother’s Day, Mama!