Auntie Jo

Auntie Jo - March 30, 2023

? Auntie Jo was my favorite aunt, even though she really wasn’t my aunt.?We were one of the few families in St. Gregory’s Parish who had no real aunts and uncles and therefore no first cousins, given that both my parents were only surviving children.?Many of the people with whom I grew up with had so many cousins they probably couldn’t name them all!

Auntie Jo was my mother’s parents’ goddaughter which, given our family heritage, is very important since godparents were not selected haphazardly, but only after much thought.

She grew up in Charlestown, graduated from Charlestown High School and went to work for H.P. Hood.?This was not a big surprise, given that her father, Frank Sulfaro, who had grown up with my mother’s parents, had a barber shop on Main Street, not far from Sullivan Square; many of his customers were men who worked at H.P. Hood.

She was an omni-present figure when we were growing up. We always thought of her as being very stylish.?She had a car with big fins!?When she got married later in life, she moved to Italy for a while, but was back in Medford for the last 20 or so years of her life.?In those last years, she would often go to concerts and other activities with my parents.

She was an extraordinary hostess.?I never went to 405?Main Street in South Medford when I was not well fed; every meal had many courses.?She sent us Hallmark cards: birthday, name day, Easter, Valentine’s and Christmas among others.?We knew they were from her because of her distinctive penmanship. I remember her as also giving thoughtful gifts.?I still have the crimson bathrobe which she gave me in honor of my graduating from Harvard. I still have the leather case where I keep my passport.?Vinny, Ginny and I never shined as brightly as we did in her eyes.

Yes, Auntie Jo was my favorite aunt; I wish she had lived long enough to watch my daughters grow up.