Funeral
Sperlonga, August 1997 returning from a day trip to Rome to visit Carolyn and Roland.
"After we left you and your lovely place and delicious lunch we grabbed our train with seconds to spare and Gino was waiting for us at Fondi (he's the only taxi driver in Latina - he wanted me to sit in the front seat with him). The next morning I find Emmanuela (Romano Rosati's wife, Romano son of Giulio, proprietor of stablimento down on the beach, deceased) in tears because Giulio's brother died the night before and she had to help the family get him ready for the funeral.
He was brought home from the hospital because there was nothing more that could be done for him (he had a stroke at age 73) so when she arrived in the morning, he was in the matrimonial bed very dead and the wife and sisters were trying to get his jacket on and because of the paralysis could not manage so Emmanuela had to help twist the body around to get the arm through the sleeve. He had chosen to die with his mouth open so they tied a tea towel around his face to keep it shut for the viewing. Viewing took place over the next 2 days and I asked if he wasn't ben cotto by then as it was 95 degrees in August heat. She assured me there was no puzza and this she thinks was because he was all skin and bones and hadn't eaten for a week.
Anyway, next is to get him in the pine coffin which she hears being hauled into the kitchen below by Lello, his son, who is holding the hammer under his arm and the nails in his teeth. They try to get the body in the coffin but the legs have "set" spread too far apart so someone runs off to get a length of rope and they tie his legs together and with much stuffing and rearranging are able to close the lid and nail it shut. Then to the church for the funeral where the sister-in-law was so hysterical, Emmanuela had to slap her. Most of the women relatives fainted and the Rosati family all left the church as soon as they saw Emmanuela. I see a very different side of Sperlonga life because of my friendship with her, who, by the way, over the years has become a virago like them all, bitching and gossiping sending everyone to hell and eternal damnation."
The daughter of the aforementioned sister-in-law, Francesca, is now au pere here in Boston for the children of Mason Sandell, eldest son of Jim and Nancy Sandell, the architect at Brown Daltas and they were one of the first to rent a place in Sperlonga. Francesca’s mother and Emmanuela have not spoken in 30 years.