To the Nigro Girls... (This is my second attempt. The first one failed to post.) I'm sorry this is late. I just learned of Gil's passing. I remember her from all the times our families vacationed together... to the Adirondacks, Canada, etc. And all the picnics at Verona Beach, Fair Haven, Willow Bay, and other places. We loved visiting your home ("No kids in the living room if you're wearing dungarees!") and your grandparents' impressive vegetable gardens in the yard. Your Mom was a ball of energy... always with someplace to go and something to do.
She and my mother, Mary DeLuca Maurillo, met in high school and became fast friends. We called them Blondie and Tootsie because Mom had blonde hair and Gil had black hair. And they were inseparable. Often when we'd be talking with Mom on the phone, she'd say, "I have to go. Gil is tooting the horn in the driveway." They'd usually be heading off to Burger King or Friendly's for afternoon coffee.
Gil was Mom's maid of honor and my Godmother. She always gave me a Cadbury's chocolate egg at Easter, and she gave me my first locket for my birthday.
I remember your house on Spring Street and all the cousins down the block. I remember your Dad's first car... a Willys Jeep from Army surplus. I remember Gil looking positively beautiful in an off-the-shoulder peasant blouse in the 1950s. And the time when our parents went to the Firemen's Ball, all dressed and glitzed. And the time they went to a Halloween party, and your Mom dressed like a German fraulein, with her hair sprayed gold.
Syracuse won't be the same without Gil running around town. Condolences on your loss...
XXX
Donna Maurillo -- Scotts Valley, California