Eduardo and Lucia met in their hometown of Foggia, Italy. It was 1926 when they decided to make a new home in the land of opportunity, the United States of America. They wanted a better life for their two sons, Felix and Giuseppe. When they had enough to support themselves, they moved to New York Manhattan's Little Italy. The rest of this story will focus on Giuseppe.
He was a good kid. He graduated high school with honors and planned to work to save enough money to go to college. He was 19 years old and he was going to major in engineering.
But then tragedy struck.
Giuseppe had been experiencing some back pain, which he felt came on due to his working too hard and vigorously playing handball and baseball to get his mind off his troubles. After seeing doctors at the clinic, he was sent to a specialist who diagnosed him with a form of tuberculosis. He was getting weaker by the day, so the decision was made to send him to a state-run facility; a place called Raybrook in upstate New York by Lake Placid.
He was bedridden for a long while because of his back—that's where the disease settled. But because of his sense of humor and outgoing personality, he was friends with some of the more ambulatory patients, who visited him to hear some of his stories and corny jokes.
But then something happened that made him the most popular resident at Raybrook.
A local radio station ran a contest similar to "Name that Tune." Giuseppe knew all the big bands of the era like Tommy Dorsey and Harry James and Cab Calloway, Benny Goodman, and so on. He also knew the crooners like Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, the Andrews Sisters. The station would start the song and the first one to identify it would win. Giuseppe's friends, wanting to capitalize on their friend's musical knowledge, set up a chain of people from his room to the payphone. G would give the answer and the call was made. The only time Giuseppe missed the prize was when the phone chain was slower.
Now enter Grazia, or Gracie. She was also suffering from TB with a much milder case than Giuseppe. She wanted to meet this swing era genius, so she ventured into his room and that's when it started. At first, they talked about their mutual love of swing music, but then it moved on to more personal matters. Gracie came from Sicily, far from Foggia, and she presently lived in Brooklyn with her seven brothers and sisters. They started meeting every day and her visits were longer, and a few times, she even kissed him on the cheek. Giuseppe thought he and Gracie were falling in love.
He had to go for a hospital for a few days for special treatment and intensive therapy. While he was away, Gracie was released from Raybrook. She thought he had lost interest in her because she didn't see him and she thought he had left without saying goodbye.
Giuseppe was released months later with a clean bill of health and some restrictions. In the months to come, after looking for a job, he found himself interviewing for a position as a draftsman at a prominent electric company. He got the job. But there was still Gracie.
He met a guy at work who lived in Brooklyn who happened to know a Grace from Willoughby Avenue in Brooklyn. He took the subway to Brooklyn, started at the end of that street, and walked up the sidewalk. He looked ahead and saw something familiar. He runs up to the window to see Grace and her mother.
"Gracie," he yelled. She runs outside. They hug and kiss. They get married in 1947, they have two children, four grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and they were always the best dancers at weddings and other celebrations.
Giuseppe passed away in 1999 at 79, and Gracie passed in 2024.
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