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Ada Monetti Remembers her Father

Angelo Cafueri was always there for his Family

By Rich MonettiPublished 4 years ago 3 min read
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Nonno (Right) with his Family

Nonno was a gentle, loving father, according to his daughter Ada Monetti. However, he did set limits and enforced boundaries. “I got spanked,” Ada said. “I was stubborn” But any chance of lingering feelings always reverted back to Angelo Cafueri’s fatherly baseline.

“Afterward, he felt bad, and we would go get ice cream,” Ada remembered.

The conciliation was an easy segue in her estimation. “I was his favorite,” Ada asserted.

But not to worry, Lita was her mother's favorite and Ada's also. Still, the fit with Nonno for Ada was straightforward. “I did little projects with my father like gardening in the backyard and fixing things in the house,” she said.

So the companionship led to Sunday adventures in Central Park, where Ada got plenty of pony rides, and the promise of a future four legger of her own. Of course, Nonno could not deliver in that regard.

But he did come through on a bicycle ride that seemed real sweet to the then four year old. “Nonno went over to this little boy and convinced him to let me ride his bike,” said Ada.

Nonno also stepped in when his daughter had trouble at the soles of her feet. “If my mother picked out Sunday shoes that I didn’t like, my father let me pick something I liked,” Ada revealed.

But Nonno didn’t have much choice when it came to the rest of the menu. “Nonni ruled the roost,” said Ada. “He put her on a pedestal.”

Either way, Nonno’s six and half day work week limited his family time. On the other hand, the customers at Giovanni’s did not feel any residual affects of Nonno’s long hours. “He was polite, always had a smile and made people feel important,” boasted Ada.

At the same time, Nonno took his job very seriously. The head waiter, he considered himself more a partner than an employee. “Nonno felt he helped make the restaurant a success,” said Ada.

The sentiment went both ways, and that was reflected in the decades long business/personal relationship with Giovanni. “Like brothers,” said Ada, “they argued but always made up.”

However, when a much better opportunity arose, Nonno could not turn his back. Through work, a Russian count offered Angelo a job to manage his estate, and as part of the deal, the patron was going to pay for Ada and Lita’s future education. There wasn’t going to be a room for Angelo’s mother-in-law, though.

A deal breaker, Angelo wouldn’t have taken the job anyway. “He was too loyal to Giovanni,” said Ada.

On the other hand, Nonno did take advantage of the natural good cheer he engendered among patrons. A long time friend of Cardinal Cooke, Nonno got the NYC icon to intervene on his grandson’s behalf.

Steven Monetti missed the cutoff date for Kindergarten at Saint Claire’s, and a long bus ride to public school did not sit well at home. “Nonno went downtown to meet the Cardinal and got him to write a letter to the Mother Superior.”

The connections also provided an opening for Nonno’s business acumen. An opera singer who Angelo knew from Italy was a frequent patron. She was married to a stock broker, and getting to know the husband, Nonno got involved in the stock market.

The added income didn’t just pad his pockets, though. Money regularly made its way back to his father in Italy and helped keep the family solvent.

Of course, the war made assistance even more pertinent, while the geopolitics had Angelo keeping a close eye on FDR. “He felt Roosevelt was too friendly with Stalin,” remembered Ada.

Churchill did meet with Nonno’s standards but the war’s end had him worrying about things closer to home. “Nonno loved baseball, and if the Yankees lost, he would complain that the games were fixed,” joked Ada.

A fanabla (or to hell with Naples), I can still hear him say. As for other less manageable anxieties, the patriarch was kept in the dark. “If I went on a date, we kept it a secret,” said Ada. “I think he had a fear that I might elope too.”

Those concerns never came to pass, and by the time things got more serious with my father, Nonno was on board. This especially since Charlie Monetti was on the same page about going to college.

In keeping, my grandfather was ready to help from his connections at work. “I’ll talk to Mr. Moody and Mr. Miller at IBM,” Nonno offered.

My father declined but Nonno never ceased looking out for his family.

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About the Creator

Rich Monetti

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