Marie Gilbert - Life With Fred and Lucy: Growing Up in South Philly

A re you afraid of ghosts? Im not. Ive been seeing the dead ever since I was a toddler. Currently, I have two ghosts in my attic. I know them and they know me. I know their stories. I know everything about them. And now theyre pestering me to share everything I know about them with the world. Its nearly impossible to say no to Fred and Lucy; its always been that way. They are willful individuals. Usually, ghosts dont like to interact with the living. But these two? They are as sociable in death as they were in life.

But this ghost story must start at the beginning, as all good ghost stories do. Its important that you know about Freds and Lucys history. Federico Liberato Serafino Marate as family came from the town of Maratea, Italy, then settled down in Campagna, Italy. Freds ancestors were successful business people, but Freds father, Michael, had always wanted to be a priest, so hed entered the seminary when he was 17 years old. The Maratea family already included several Cardinals who spent their lives serving the Roman Catholic Church in Italy.

Fortunately for my father and his seven siblings, Michael was not cut out for the celibate life and so left the seminary, moved to Philadelphia in 1905, and married Marie, who soon after gave birth to her first son. Freds siblings from this match included three sisters: Louise, Rita and Helen. After the death of his first wife, Michael traveled back to Italy to pick up a new wife. Rosina gave Michael four more children: three girls and a boy.

Lucy Chiusolo , along with an older sister, Anna, and a younger brother, Mario, was born and raised in Benevento, Italy. Her father, Enrico, had moved to Philadelphia when she was very young, but he would return home to Benevento for short visits every year, but always seemed eager to return to the bakery where he worked near the Italian Market on Ninth and Federal Streets. What Lucy, her mother, and siblings didnt know was that Enrico had a girlfriend. She was a blonde cutie who Enrico took to the Philly clubs and the horse races. Did I mention that Enrico was also a bookie? He was responsible for the bets placed on the horse races by his neighbors and co-workers. Enrico was definitely living the good life here in America, but that was soon to change.

World War II was brewing and people who did not like what was happening in Europe made plans to emigrate to America before the dog-doo hit the fan. When Lucy was 15, her sister Anna sent a letter to President Roosevelt for permission to enter the States. Lucys mother, Marie, was not at all interested in leaving her home in Benevento, or leaving her family, but you dont say no to the President of the United States, especially one who was loved by most of the free world. Marie Chiusolo was forced to pack up her three children and travel to Ellis Island before reuniting with her husband in Philadelphia. Poor Enrico! His girlfriend had to go and he was not a happy camper.

Although my grandfather owned a successful grocery store at Chadwick and Moore Streets near 17th street, his son Fred had no desire to work the business. Fred met Lucy while they were both working at a tailor shop in Philadelphia. They were making uniforms for our troops, and the story of how they met goes like this: my fathers position required him to move the cloth from one part of the factory to another. Each section of the factory had its own part of the uniform to complete. This was called piece work. My father had to pass Lucy several times a day. Whenever he asked her to move in her chair, she would say something derogatory in Italian to the other ladies, and theyd all laugh. Lucy didnt know that Fred spoke Italian. One day, Fred surprised Lucy and her co-workers by asking her out on a date in Italian. Lucy was so startled that shed been found out, she said yes.

Fred was ten years older than Lucy, and even though Fred and Lucy did not experience a storybook romancethe kind you read about in booksthey still got married a few months later. Fred claims that it was because Lucys mother had found a cozy apartment for them around the corner from her house on Ellsworth Street. The nearness of the honeymoon apartment to her mothers home was important because Lucy knew absolutely nothing about cooking. It would be two years before Fred learned that Lucys mother was cooking all those delicious Italian dishes every day.

Although it wasnt a happy marriage, there was plenty of humor to make it bearable. Fred was famous for his practical jokes on both family and friends and Lucy was a hot-headed, independent woman with a bad driving record. They both had severe OCD. And though they definitely didnt marry for love, there was some good that came from the union. They produced four children: Michael, Lucy, Jane and me.

If you look at the photo of my parents on the cover, it speaks volumes. My siblings and I were not the easiest children to rear, and Fred and Lucy werent the easiest parents to love, but GOD does have a sense of humor and, in the long run, growing up in a grocery store with Fred and Lucy provided life lessons that have made me who I am today: a practical joker with OCD.

Lucy and Freds Engagement