Reverie on the old neighborhood by Saint Paul's Church

On my way to the William Hall Library in Cranston, RI I passed by my childhood -adolescent memory - St. Paul's Church. One of the few buildings that has not changed in decades ! At one time in 1950s and 1960s you could visit the church at any hour . Now the church doors are locked . No more spontaneous minutes for meditation. On Sundays in the early 60s my father , Domenic Ruggieri , would take about four or five of his now nine kids to the always crowded 11 o'clock mass. Our gang usually entered about 5 or 10 minutes late . So Pop and the 4 or 5 of us kids would remain standing in the back of the church. But what an attention getter for THE Don Rogers ( my father's WEAN radio name ). Pop was a kind man . We could never rebel against PIZZA & PUCCINI . Mom always with a proverbial heart of gold did all the hard work just getting our Sunday clothes ready . Herself even polishing our " new " shoes. And attending to the special Italian- family recipe " gravy " for the usual Sunday afternoon macaroni and meatballs dinner ( with sausage and peperoni, and pork and Italian braciole -and now and then hot dog immersed in the rich, thick tomato sauce " gravy " ) And always a nice green ( Romaine ) salad with sliced tomatoes and lots of vinegar and olive oil. A fresh loaf of sliced Italian bread there in a basket. . Even before Sunday dinner I would dunk the end slice of bakery fresh Italian bread into the simmering " gravy " ; we could savor its rich smell the moment we returned home from church . It was Pop who would grate the cheese and mix the salad. THE FAMILY unit gathered at THE TABLE was sort of a sacred ritual . Even at age 10 I could have a glass of red wine diluted with orange soda. And there was always the inevitable touchy topic of discussion . Pop had very liberal views on racially mixed marriage back then. For this Grandma Engley hinted that Pop was slightly" cracked " . But with a gallon of Carlo Rossi Burgundy beside him on the kitchen floor, Pop never felt the stress of family " argument " . Or when Ma got sarcastic about his " Dream Time " fan mail . " You would do that job for nothing , Dear - which is what the station pays you. " But the nine of us ate well, were all normally happy and healthy , and had a nice big house on California Ave. in the Washington Park neighborhood ( Providence , RI ) to live in . And wonderful neighbors - all WELCOMED in our home . A priest from St. Paul's ( Father Halloran ) gave Pop a certificate saying our home was " DEVOTED TO CHRIST THE KING " . And " DOMINUS VOBISCUM ! "