It’s been a year since our neighbor, Vincent DiSalvo died. His wife Sarah had an open house on Sunday afternoon to mark the occasion. She’s doing pretty good, considering. A bunch of people showed up and it was a nice get-together. Folks told stories about Vinnie, of course. What a great guy he was. How he could fix anything. Never charged for it, either, though he wouldn’t say no to a meal. And dessert? He’d always ask for seconds. Vinnie touched a lot of lives, and Mahoosuc Mills misses him. But, like in a lot of small towns, we take care of our own, and some have stepped up to the plate. Charlie’s one of ‘em. Here’s his tribute to Vinnie.
Vincent DiSalvo
Vincent DiSalvo lived down the block
Mechanically speaking, the guy was a rock
Eighth grade, I think, was as much as he’d done
But he could fix anything under the sun
If you had a motor that you couldn’t start
Well, he couldn’t wait to just take it apart
And fiddle around, that’s what he’d do
He’d sing and he’d grunt and he’d fix it for you
Old amplifiers? A swimming pool pump?
He’d get ‘em running with parts from the dump
Rebuilt transmission? He could do that
One hell of a guy, but a little too fat
I could haul my lawnmower way across town
Or walk it to Vinnie, three houses down
Who’d play with that thing while I was gone
And later that day, I’d be mowin’ the lawn!
The only problem that got the guy stumped
Was when his work told him that he had been dumped
With six kids at home, that wasn’t no joke
The stress of it all just gave him a stroke
His wife Sarah told us he just couldn’t stop
And died in her arms, right there in his shop
His friends all went in on his casket, of course
That box might’a been big enough for a horse!
So when Sarah DiSalvo needs something repaired
We jump to the aid of the “Vinnie-impaired”
We take it apart all over the ground
And do what he’d do, just fiddle around
That’s it for now. Catch you on the flip side!
Hear Ida Tell It: Vincent DiSalvo
Upcoming Book Events and Performances
August 30: Book Reading: The Sweet Life, Rangeley Public Library, http://www.rangeleylibrary.com/default.asp?Key=1&Cat=1 6:00pm, Rangeley, ME
September 8: A Visit With Ida, Active, Alive and Over 55 Club Luncheon, 1:00pm, Rye, NH
September 19: A Visit With Ida, Westbrook Seniors at Westbrook Community Center, 1:00pm, Westbrook, ME
September 23 & 24: The View From He’ah Variety Show with special guest international storyteller Antonio Rocha, http://actonenh.org/ Friday at 7:30pm, Saturday 2:00 & 7:30pm, Portsmouth, NH