Book of Memories for Elena Danisi Crimi

Story shared: Poem to Grandma, by Hannah Rigoglioso

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 11:12:31 EST

Every Sunday evening the family sat around the table of my great-grandmother's apartment and had a traditional Italian dinner Complete with spaghetti, meatballs, and thick Italian bread We'd share what happened that day and even play a board game Our family came down every Sunday, no question about it and this all started long before I was even born And it all started thanks to my great-grandmother Now that we no longer have these special meals together, it feels like a part of life's missing But I'm sure that my great-grandmother is really still there with us, looking down while she eats spaghetti and meatballs in Heaven.

Condolence From Dino & Ashley Covelli

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:47:23 EST

Ashley & I are so sorry to hear this news. I have fond memories of nonna Crimi. Please accept our condolences. She will be in our thoughts.

Condolence From Philip Farina and family

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:42:59 EST

Aunt Lena will be remebered through a donation to the Crebral Palsy Association in her memory.

Condolence From Arlene Scozzarella

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:48:33 EST

Dear Liz, I am so sorry to hear about your mom. I have enrolled her in a perpetual mass at the National Shrine of Our Lady and you should receive the acknowledgement shortly. You are always in my prayers. Arlene

Condolence From Michele Danisi & Family

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 06:11:12 EST

Dear Elizabeth & family, our heartfelt condolences to you and everyone for your loss. We save precious memories of happy moments with Elena and deeply know that we shall see her again when our earthly journey will end. We virtually participate from Italy to your celebration sending loving thoughts to you and all those that might be mourning in this sad moment. Michele, Vitina, Francesco, GraceAnn and Sal Danisi

Condolence From Anthony and Kathy Bello

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 20:43:39 EST

Dear Elizabeth, Kathy and I are so sorry for your loss. Elena was a legend and a fine Victorian Lady. My memories of her traveling the transit system through every borough to visit us where ever we moved to. My Mom and Elena were telephone buddies up to only a couple of years ago. Your Mom's concern and compassion for every Danisi, blood or through marriage, will truly be missed. I know she is now part of the heavenly host and family with the Lord. Love, Tony and Kathy

Condolence From Balzano and Bello Families

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 12:43:03 EST

On behalf of Anna (Danisi) Bello and her children, Louise and Anthony and their families we send our deepest sympathy, prayers and thoughts on the passing of such a wonderful person. Cousin Lena has been such an inspiration to all of us and has touched our lives greatly. May she rest in eternal peace.

Story shared: Meditations on Grandma

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:08:06 EST

Meditations on Grandma By Marguerite Rigoglioso, her Granddaughter. Elena Danisi Crimi. We all know the legendary story that she was named after the Queen of Italy. And it struck us all as true, somehow. For deep down we know that Grandma was reincarnated royalty, a woman who remembered this but remembered not how and where, or where her Court was. She located a Danisi crest, but really her royal family was from elsewhere; Russia, I think. The epoch of Anastasia, when black parasols were the rage. When I meditate on Grandma, the first matter that comes up is this: Whom Did She Love? Did any of us ever hear? I tried to extract it from her once, but the most she would offer was: Well, there was someone. And an intimation that it was a cousin or paesan’ of some sort. Whom Did Grandma Love? We all know that it wasn’t Grandpa. The love there was Dutiful Love. Sorry Grandpa. We know you were in love with your Little Doll with Clara Bowe eyes and porcelain skin. But she was not in love with you. Was she in love with the young man at the wedding with whom you were dancing and on whom you cut in, cutting into Grandma’s life forever, a kind of unbidden will to which she acquiesced and bent? Acquiescing and bending were a way of life for this Victorian Maid, despite her feistiness. So she settled into a marriage willed by others after being willed by others out of her piano lessons and her college education, among other privations. This woman who so loved school, who was a talented painter and designer and who probably would have been a talented musician, had to content herself with dabbling as she raised future generations who would enjoy greater freedoms than she. Grandma complained until the end that she was not allowed to pursue her education after high school. At the same time, she asked until my last day with her why I didn’t live with her, take care of her. And finally I was able to tell her: It was because I had become the person she had wanted to be. It was her fault, I lovingly said, and she did laugh. I knew from all I had seen of Grandma and my female relatives, both blood and non, that I would not be the Domesticated Woman. The undercurrent of Grandma’s teaching was freedom: freedom of soul, freedom of expression. She took me to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Frick, the Cloisters, Lincoln Center, and I pursued the life of the artist, broadly speaking. She wanted acting school for me and supported my theatrical leanings, and I pursued theater and singing and, eventually, its original essence: spiritual ritual. She wanted Italy for me, connection with the ancestors, and I pursued travels that took me to our Ancestors in the Starry Realms and to a destiny of World Service in awakening others. In me, she had created what in the end to her was a kind of monster that she wasn’t prepared to cope with. She raised me to be one who does not sit at Grandma’s side and live her life in tandem as the Matriarch makes the slow journey over twenty years to the Other Side. From her vantage point in the Realms, I hope she can see that now. I realize as I attempt to communicate with Grandma now that my karmic role is to help her more in Death than in Life. My spiritual teacher, Robert Owings, reminds me that she and I can communicate now; that I can teach her things and she can teach me. “Look for the subtle messages,” he says. I hope and pray that Grandma finds in this journey –– with the Cosmos, and, in whatever way, with me ¬¬–– the Education she so deeply craved. I hope and pray that Grandma may understand my language of dedication, and that she understand, with peace, why it has needed to be this way. I hope and pray that we may liberate one another from bounds and restriction, and just revel in our love for one another.

Condolence From JessicaTosto

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:00:34 EST

On behalf of the Tosto's from southern New Jersey we send our condolensces to your entire family. She was an amazing spirit that will always be remembered!!!!

Photo shared: The Grandma that I remember.............

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 11:40:08 EST

This is a photo of Grandma circa 1993/1994. I met Grandma in 1993. She was always on the move....classes, concerts, visiting the cousins. She welcomed me into her home, her family , and into her heart. I will miss her......Keith

Photo shared: Mother's Day 2006 @ Spotofinos

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 11:29:34 EST

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