February 23, 2023
Narration
Irene had really special hair. It was curly and was teased up to the top of her head like a big, beautiful nest. When I was a little kid, I remember when I would draw a picture of my grandmother – first a circle for her head, a smiling face, and then swirls of squiggly lines on her head shooting straight up.
Why am I telling you about her hair? Well, it was pretty extraordinary.
I think my grandmother’s hairdo is kind of like a symbol for how she lived. Full on, embracing everything she did. She took the ordinary and made it special.
We’ve seen Irene push through difficult things in her life so far.
How did she live through good times, or just ordinary times?
She took every day, every celebration and any normal day and really lived. This is an inspiring way to live, I think.
Today, a story about Irene’s hairdo and a queen. And a hint of what’s to come next for Irene.
Narration
Irene and Joe were invited to a party by their friend Harold.
Bessa: He said to me, We’re having a big party in the Danish Consulate in Manhattan. The queen is going to be there and I want you and Joe to come. So I mentioned it to Joe, and Joe says, Let’s go. Waldorf Astoria. The fanciest place in Manhattan. So we went, with Harold and his wife Rose. It was a wonderful party.
Kristen: And the Queen of Denmark was there? What was her name?
Bessa: I don’t remember. There’s a picture of her in the club. But she just kept following me around all night long. And staring at me. I said, Joe, what is it with her?
Kristen: Did you meet her?
Bessa: Not formally.
Kristen: Did she wear a crown?
Bessa: No. She was dressed beautiful. I had a gown. I had a very pretty gown. It was beige… and I had very fancy hair. You know how we did our hair in those days. Very special. But she just kept following me. I said, Joe, I feel very uncomfortable. No matter where I was, she was right there.
Well a month later, I came into the club, and they had gotten a picture of her from Denmark. A big one. It’s still hanging there. I said, Joe, take a look. My hairdo. She followed me that night to study my hairdo. That’s why she kept looking at me – she wanted to know exactly how my hair was done. It was funny.
Kristen: What was special about your hair?
Bessa: Well, I had a heck of a lot of hair then. They teased it up fancy you know. I could hardly get into the car it was so high! <laughs> That was the style in those days.
Narration
While Irene and Joe made time for parties, and friends, and rest, they really worked a lot.
When she was about 42 years old, Irene and Joe needed a real break.
They decided to quit working for a year.
Bessa: He took a year off and I took a year off. I quit, and we stayed home, and it was a good thing we did because Carol and Thor, they were teenagers. And Inger was getting bigger. And so we were home with them for a whole year. And your mom would say and Thor too, It was the best year of my life because we had a home cooked meal every night and sat together as a family, every night. It was good.
And we also looked for businesses to see what we were gonna go into. We knew we had to go back to work.
Kristen: What year was this?
Bessa: ‘76, ‘77, something like that.
And we started looking in the paper on Staten Island and Joe says one day, Irene, there’s this place for sale on Highland Boulevard. It’s called Magnotti’s. I said, Magnotti’s? That’s the one we go and have dinner in. Well, it’s for sale.
I said, Well, let’s look into it. Let’s go there tonight and have dinner. So we did. And we looked around and I’m saying, This could be something nice.
Narration
Next time we will talk all about Irene and Joe’s biggest business venture yet. You won’t want to miss it.
To end this week’s episode, I want to leave you with a sweet portrait.
You’ve heard about how much Irene loved dancing. Her Mama had taught her the different dances at home when she was young.
Well, Irene’s daughter Carol also loved folk dancing.
And of course, Irene taught Carol.
Just like her own Mama had taught Irene in Norway.
Bessa: She loved the folk dancing. She was a good dancer. You know, she loved it.
Kristen: Did you teach her a lot of it?
Bessa: Yeah. We had to go down the basement. Show me this. Show me that <laughs>. Yeah. Show me the polka again.