2024, Pennsauken Country Club, Haddonfield Road, Pennsauken Township, NJ, USA
Hello everyone. Thank you to Andrea and Robbo for letting me speak at this last minute from some of my memories growing up with Pat. At the luncheon I spoke totally off the cuff extemporaneously, but today for Pat’s birthday I wrote them down to share. Pat and I were first cousins, our fathers were brothers.
One of my earliest and favorite memories is from babysitting. I think it was a Saturday night maybe early 1960’s my parents went out and had Pat, Roseanne and perhaps Cissy too baby sit me and my two younger brothers. Like everyone at the time, we had a big console black and white TV. My parents would never allow us to watch TV with the lights off, but the girls did, so we were watching the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still, in the dark with the lights turned off.
There is a famous night scene in the movie where Klaatu goes to the space ship to wake up the robot Gort using a flash light. I remember intently watching this scene when one of the girls turns on a real flash light and starts flashing it at the screen! This scared the bejesus out of me, I used to believe in lots of sci fi stories and got nightmares waking up screaming sometimes. All I remember from this episode was eventually the girls carrying us up to our bedrooms in quilts. Made for some great memories, and this film remains one of my all-time favorite movies to this day. Lest we forget, in this film it was a woman who saved the world by telling the robot “Gort Klaatu Barada Nikto”. I recommend watching this 1951 film directed by Robert Wise who went on to direct Sound of Music and West Side Story.
Later as we advanced through our school years, I remember every Christmas morning opening presents and getting cleaned up because we were expecting our annual visit from Pat and Rob, always on Christmas morning. This was always an enjoyable time for sharing stories, and homemade cookies and eggnog.
My father Dominic was brothers with Carmine and Joseph who was Pats father, and my father was Pats godfather, so Pat and my father were always close. I remember many years when Pat would help my father with his tax forms, I know he greatly appreciated and needed her help.
I vaguely remember being at Pat and Rob’s wedding in May 1968, I still have super-8 film movies from that now on VHS tape, I hope to transfer to DVD to share with the family soon.
Some speakers have talked already about the Lake houses on Victory Lakes in Williamstown Cecil County NJ. My family was the only one of the 4 Maglione’s (Joe, Carmine, Rose (Cesare), and Dominic) that did not have a house on the lakes, but we did visit often when invited. I remember many times staying with Carmine and Kay who had a large sleeping area, and sometimes with Joe and Ann on their second floor when there was room. But I don’t remember ever staying at the Cesares house, maybe because there was not enough space there, or I just don’t remember being too young at the time.
The Maglione family Joe, Carmine, Rose and Dominic had two half brothers named John and Michael Maloney, we cousins called them uncle John and uncle Mike. Uncle John had a small cottage in North Wildwood Anglesea just a 2 blocks around the corner from the famous Zaberer’s restaurant, now gone. In good years when my family could afford it, we would rent the rear of uncle John’s cottage for a week’s vacation. My dad would drive us down on Sunday, drive home that night or next morning to work most of the week, but usually come back down on Friday to stay with us until checking out on Sunday. When my dad was there we had the best times because he would take us to the boardwalk and ride the amusements together and go out to eat too.
One year I remember we stayed at uncle John’s place and Pat’s family joined us for the week as I recall, or my family joined Pat’s for the stay. I remember going out to dinner the 12 of us to a place called Sundbergs which was walking distance from the cottage. These were some of the good times of childhood.
August 14, 2013 was my 60’th birthday, and also Andrea’s birthday. I was in Philly with my father in the hospital in a coma with no idea how he got that way. It was my cousins Pat, Roseanne and Maryanne who took me to dinner at Gallos for my birthday, the only sign of goodness for me at the time.
More recently on November 11, 2016 I was in Philly working to clean out and prepare to sell my old family house at 3608 Emerald Street. It was a nice warm sunny day. I was working down in the back cellar so I left the front door open but had the screen door closed and locked to get some air circulation. Suddenly someone was pressing the doorbell repeatedly very quickly. I thought who the hell is this? As I approached the door I saw some scraggly looking guy in a hoodie. Turns out it was Pat’s brother Vincent Maglione, Pat had brought him to a medical appointment in the city and knew I was working at the house so stopped by. I was glad to see Vince because I heard he was sick, and it was very depressing to clean out the house I grew up in, so it was great to see family. I have two photos from this visit.
On May 25, 2017 I went to dinner in NJ with Pat, Roseanne, Maryanne, and Vincent, I have some photos from this event too. This was the last time I saw Vincent before he passed. Again, it was Pat who helped get the event organized and brought Vince there.
These are just a few stories I remember where Pat was central to the story. I have known her all my life and she will be sorely missed. May she rest in peace knowing she has left a great family with lots of great plans!
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