YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU! A true story

He sat laying in his bed, the room lit only by the light of a flickering candle that bounced the shadows in almost a macabre fashion. The guest was coming and going to pay their respects to my Dad’s cousin’s husband, Dominico. Dominico was a tightwad and a miser, and his three sons hated him, but out of respect for their Mamma, they tolerated him in his old age.

Concetta stayed by her husband’s side throughout his ordeal as she prayed in Italian with her rosary beads, slipping one bead at a time through her arthritic fingers praying for his mortal soul and forgiveness for all his transgressions. Indeed, the local priest from Our Lady of Loreto came, prayed and blessed him as he heard Dominico’s confession.

Dominico started to rally somewhat and called Concetta to come closer. Leaning over she heard her husband of 53-years whisper that she should take the picture of the Virgin Mary down that was hanging over him on the wall and when he dies, place it in his coffin with him. Concetta thought this wonderful that he should feel this way about the Blessed Virgin and told Dominic that their sons would take care of his request.

Finally, late that afternoon while it was turning colder and greyer than the day was already, Dominico slipped away to his reward and would soon be in his final resting place.

Remembering her husband’s request the uplifting mood it gave Concetta, she instructed her three boys to take down the picture of the Virgin Mary and to place it in the coffin with their father. The boys dutifully complied with Mamma’s request but found that the picture was too large and cumbersome to even fit in the coffin, so they decided to take the frame away and roll up the print as this would work.

As they removed the frame they began to remove the backing of the picture, and when they did they found to their surprise $50,000 in large bills. As Concetta said when the boys told her: “That sonnamabitcher wanna to taker it with a him!”

They buried the miser without any frills just a mass and quick dump in the grave. For Concetta, she just took the money and booked a flight to Italy to visit her family in Naples.