Nancy DeBenedittis MAMA’S WAY

 TRANSCRIPT

 My name is Irene DeBenedittis.   We’re learning about my mom, Nancy DeBenedittis, maiden name Leo. So in 1943, mom wanted to be part of the war effort and help the country. And so  she volunteered and she went to work for American Export Airlines and to do the riveting and to do help with the airline you know, help with the maintenance of the planes.

And she was always a very strong lady from when she was younger and she was always willing to like take the forefront and do things that she knew was right and she had to do. And so that was one of the things that made her so special too, because it gave her that, you know, that gave us all that feeling that you’d have to try to do things that you can’t accomplish.

Mom loved to cook and she did it like she really cooked, like good things fast. Like she used to make, uh, eggplant parmesan  and she’d make the eggplant. That was a really good one. She’d make the eggplant parmesan , and then she would boil the fusilli, the curly pasta, and she would make the eggplant with the fusilli in the middle like a lasagna and, and you would cut it and you see the curly pasta. It was very good. 

Well, mom had her and all the customers know this. She had her little corner with her table in the corner there and she would sit there, but she would overlook and oversee everything going on in the store. And we would be serving on the customers and she would know who went in and who went out, and then they’d go talk to her in the corner. And, and anybody that had like any kinds of issues or problems, they’d go to mom and mom would try to help, you know, as much as she could. And then, you know, when mom passed away, you could see how much the people really did appreciate and love her. 

She was so, uh, caring and she was so much concerned about the community and, and the issues and things that were happening here. And, you know, she was, she was always very, uh, fair to everyone. She respected everybody and she instilled in us too, to try to be like that.