The Angel of Bleecker Street: A Story About My Mother Josephine How She Lived Part of Her Life with Secret

By Christine Brautman

A remarkable story worth reading. Thirteen years ago I found
my mothers journal tucked away inside an old metal trunk neatly
between two sheets of bed linen. I had no idea about Moms
true feelings and even that she kept a journal. While reading her
journal, she writes about dealing with her experiences with breast
cancer. In essence, from a point of view of denial, you will see her
situation only made her stronger and more positive about beating
the cancer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 22, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477118580

Book preview

Copyright © 2012

by Christine (Barone) Brautman. 115860-BRAU

ISBN: Ebook 978-1-4771-1858-0 (e)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

Contents

Acknowledgements

Preface

The Beginning

My Story Stops And My Mother’s Story Begins

Mom’s Story Continued By Me

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My thanks to my dad, Giuseppe Barone, my sister, Sue Caci, my brother, Anthony Barone, and Aunt Marie Terry and Uncle Charlie and Aunt Elena Di Trani, and my cousin, Olga-Barone-Allan, for all their help, especially with all of my sporadic phone calls with questions and the use of photographs. I would also like to thank my good friends Gayle Bruen and Teresa Shehada for their assistance. My thanks also goes to my neighbor and my friend Elaine Burlesco for taking the time to listen to me and my story while along the way we enjoyed her delicious home-made lemon meringue pie that she baked for me. To my darling husband, Dan, and daughter, Marisel, when dinners consisted of take-out or cold cereal, thank you for all your support, love and patience while I was working on this story.

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Photo by Dan Brautman

Special Thank You! to my brother-in-law, Joe Brautman, for his expertise in the final stages of my book. Thanks to all of you in the photos used in this book, you know who you are, and if you’re not in any of the photos, thank you for being so special and part of our lives.

PREFACE

Maybe you grew up or lived in Greenwich Village, New York, City, and knew my mother, The Angel of Bleecker Street.

I wanted to tell my mother’s story, how she lived life in a matter-of- fact and vivacious manner while having a serious illness for a very long period of time, and how she kept it a secret from all of us. Not even the ones closest to her knew.

When Mom did speak about her ailment it was only in confidence to her sister, my aunt Marie.My aunt was in disbelief to hear about Mom’s condition, she urged Mom to seek professional and medical

attention immediately.

Was it too late for Mom to get help?

Why did Mom let her condition go for so long?

When was she going to do something about it?

Why does anybody ignore their body?

When should you seek medical attention?

Where do you draw the line for all these questions?

It is hoped that by reading this book you will give thought to these questions, should you find yourself in a similar situation. Question everything. My mother didn’t, and I believe that contributed to the outcome of her treatment.

My sister, Sue and I found Mom’s journal after she died. It was written in Mom’s handwriting on a few pieces of notebook paper. As we read the journal together, we knew in an instant that we must share this story with others so that they might benefit from it. We were so deeply moved by how our mother had felt and how she came to terms with her situation, yet we were not fully aware of her true feelings until we read her journal.

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Mom’s Journal

THE BEGINNING

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