Bohemian Rapsody: John & Jo

Wedding Day, 1969

Every few months I go up to Danbury, Connecticut to spend time with my cousins John & Josephine. John is really my dad's first cousin. His mom and my grandmother are Romanian Jewish sisters who both married Catholics. John's mom married an Italian. Josephine is Dutch. John is a retired cop from the Bronx - 50th Precinct. He basically never has to worry about getting a speeding ticket. He's also a retired postal worker - TWO pensions! Jo is a retired second grade teacher from the Bronx. They met in school. John came to her 2nd grade class to give a talk about safety. After his speech he asked the kids if they had any questions. One kid raised his hand; "Are you married?" Now in those days, John was a stud muffin. I remember him coming to visit us on Long Island when I was about 5 and he used to bring over a different girlfriend every time we saw him. According to John, Jo stalked him until he gave in.

During the summer months we have a ritual - I take the train up on Friday. Then Saturday morning, John has the classified ads ready for me and I map out all the garage sales within a 50 mile radius. Then John usually leaves to umpire little league games and Jo and I hit the sales. Saturday evenings are saved for Musicals At Richter - outdoor musicals on a mountaintop near a beautiful golf course. First we stop at Stew Leonards to get us some fried chicken, along with Jo's famous macaroni salad and brownies. Then we shlep our lawn chairs, blankets, mittens, hats (it's cold up there) and enjoy the show.