I was born and raised in South Philly and although I’m a
South Jersey girl now, having moved to Audubon after my husband retired from
the Fire Department; my heart belongs to the City of Brotherly love, Cheese
steaks and block parties.
I love Audubon, New Jersey, because we have enough small
pockets of wooded area to attract hawks, migrating birds, ducks, fox, possum,
raccoon, native honey bees, butterflies, and of course, Turkeys. No, I’m not
talking politicians. I’m talking wild turkeys. There are several males and
females who stroll up and down our street.
Every once in a while, I have to get back to my roots and I
do that whenever I visit my family. My sister and brother and their families live
in South Philly. Sometimes, I’ll go to Sunday mass at St. Monica’s church with
my sister. If you remember from my “Life with Fred & Lucy” Episodes, my
siblings and I went to St. Monica’s school. There were no lay teachers back in
the day. We had NUNS! The good sisters of the order of the Immaculate Heart had
to deal with the entire Maratea family which included all my cousins from the
Tempesta and Deluccia Family. I know without a doubt that we kids drove the
nuns crazy.
Princess Mia with Mom and Dad
This past week, my brother’s granddaughter, Mia Rose, turned
four. Mia is a cutie pie and a diva. I love this kid. My niece, Rita, and her
husband, Eric, had a street party celebrating Halloween and Mia’s Birthday.
South Philly knows how to party and when we party, we do it
right. There was a DJ playing music, several bounce rides and toss games, and
of course, plenty of good food.
My niece hired a costume character to drop by and offer Mia
a birthday wish. She had contacted www.tgifparties.com Mia loves Cinderella and was very happy when
the Disney Princess showed up.
I’m guessing that Cinderella had no idea
what she was getting into when she dropped by. Most hired characters make an
entrance, take pictures with the birthday child, play music and do a few games
and then they leave. Not with my family.
Mia Rose, all four years of marvelous, took Cinderella by
the hand to show off her bedroom, and then, her playroom in the basement. Cinderella
was coerced into playing doll baby and doctor. Mia then declared that
Cinderella was in need of a nap and had the princess lie down and go to sleep.
It was hilarious watching this whole scene.
Cinderella may have expected this job to last maybe 30 to 45
minutes. I think she and her audio/video assistant were at Mia’s party for way
over an hour. Mia was in her glory and I was impressed with Miss Deena, Cinderella’s
alter ego.
Mia, Cinderella and Uncle Mike
One of my jobs at the Academy of Natural Sciences, www.ansp.org before
retiring was the Coordinator of the Birthday Program. I had a staff of
delightful, caring people who were well-trained and well-versed in accurate natural
history facts. My “Birthday Angels” made the Birthday Party Program one of the
most successful programs at the Academy and it was because they made the
birthday child, family and guests feel like royalty.
Princess Mia with brother, Jason and cousins
Deena did an outstanding job of going with the flow and,
happily participated in all requests made by our family’s little princess. If I
was still working at the Academy, Deena would have fit in perfectly with my “Birthday
Angels.”
Ask for Deena and tell them Aunt Marie sent you.
