Josephine Ferraro
Appearances
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour: Delicious! Stories of Food & Feelings
So when I was seven years old, my best friend Rosalynn and I used to love to go to Ferrara's Bakery on Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn. And we would wait all day and crave their spumoni. And if you've never had spumoni before, it's like Italian gelato, but mixed with different flavors, and it's scooped up and molded into these little white cups. And we just loved it. It was the best part of our day.
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour: Delicious! Stories of Food & Feelings
And every morning, my mother would give us money so we could get the spumoni. But one day, she forgot to give us the money. And... We were standing there in front of Ferrara's Bakery, and we were just staring into the window. We could see Frankie scooping up the Spumoni and putting it into little white cups.
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour: Delicious! Stories of Food & Feelings
And I knew that I could wait until my mother came to pick us up, and she would buy us the Spumoni. But I didn't want to wait. I wanted it now. So I said to Rosalind, I have an idea. I know how we can get money for the Spumoni.
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour: Delicious! Stories of Food & Feelings
And I said, we will just wait for people to pass by, and we'll tell them we're collecting for charity, and we'll buy our spumoni, and then what's ever left over, we'll put in the poor box at St. Lucy's Church. And she thought it was a great idea. So we got our spumoni, and it never tasted as good as it did that day. And when my mother came, I couldn't wait to tell her my great idea.
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour: Delicious! Stories of Food & Feelings
So I told her and she just said, oh no, you have to go to church on Saturday and confess what you did. And I just cried all the way home because I didn't know I had done anything wrong. And I was also annoyed with Rosalind because she wasn't Catholic. And so she didn't have to go to confession.
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour: Delicious! Stories of Food & Feelings
So for the next three days until Saturday, I prayed every night, dear God, please don't let it be Monsignor Genoa. Let it be any other priest that I confess to, and I will never do a bad thing again. So that Saturday, the reason why was because he gave out the worst penances. He was very strict, and all the kids dreaded going to confession with him. So that Saturday, I went to St.
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour: Delicious! Stories of Food & Feelings
Lucy's Church with my mother. And when we got in, I put the money in the poor box, what was left over after the spumoni. And I waited my turn to go to confession. I was really scared. And my mother went into the confessional box first. And when she came out, she just looked at me and she said, mm-hmm. And I knew that that meant it was Monsignor Genoa and that I was going to get it.
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour: Delicious! Stories of Food & Feelings
So I was very nervous, and I was tempted to run away. But I had been raised to believe that if I had died with a mortal sin on my soul, that I was going to be going straight to hell. And I was more afraid of that than I was of Monsignor Genoa. So I waited my turn. I went into the confessional box. And the confessional box is very small, right?
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour: Delicious! Stories of Food & Feelings
There's only like a little door between you and the priest. And my heart was pounding. And finally, he opened the little door. And I said very fast, bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It's been one week since my last confession. And I was trying to think of other sins that I may have committed that week, but I couldn't think of any. So I had to tell him right away about the Spumoni incident.
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour: Delicious! Stories of Food & Feelings
And I told him. And usually, they're kind of like profile. You're looking at them in profile. And he just turned around, and he looked at me. And he just, in a booming voice, he said, you lied, you cheated, and you stole. And my heart was pounding. And he said, you will put the remaining money in the poor box, and you will say 20 Our Fathers and 20 Hail Marys as your penance.
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour: Delicious! Stories of Food & Feelings
I walked out, and I didn't look at anybody because I knew that they had heard Monsignor yelling at me. And I walked. to the altar and kneel down on the marble step. And I said my confession. I said my penance. And it took me a long time. But after that, I never begged for Spumoni money again.