my mother used to sing ''o mio babbino caro'', a melody by puccini, for me when i took a nap. it was my parents' bed. i remember those winter afternoons, the winter light. my sister was born in may 1964, so i must have been 2 or 3 years old! is it possible to remember something that happened when one was so young? in any case, whenever i hear ''o mio babbino caro'' i am immediately taken back to that old apartment and my mom's face; everything comes back so clearly.
my mother's family was huge, 17 siblings, and most of them were very accomplished singers. italians. they would break into song. i know it sounds like a cliche but that's what happened. they could sing anything at all: opera, tango, jazz. my mother sang ella stuff in spanish. her other favorite lullaby for us kids was ''begin the beguine''. my uncle hector was a tenor and my uncle eduardo was a bass. they knew die walkure in italian. my mother did sieglinde and hector did siegmund. or my mother would be brunnhilde and uncle eduardo wotan. i know how it sounds but i swear that it is true. my mother was butterfly and uncle hector was pinkerton. and then they would sing ella's songs in spanish. i guess that today they would get paid. wally
