Condolence: Dearest Antonina! I worked up to age 18 at Roma Bakery and let me tell you, Antonina was a beautiful and special lady. I was too young to fully appreciate her strength and wisdom, but I remember and reflect.

Antonina was the spirit of the bakery and the bakery was her spirit. Every night, only when the bread reached the state where it's scent permeated the air, Antonina started singing in Italian. I can still recite one part of one song, faithfully enough that I was told it means "There was a girl standing up in the hill".

One day as a joke, her friend and co-worker Josie on a lam told me to ask Antonina why she didn't have a refrigerator. She looked down, then at me and said "I don't know... Like everything a-fresh..". Me, thinking myself logical, turned to Josie and said "Isn't that what a refrigerator does?". In a way that was typical of Antonina, her eyes smiled and she laughed it off without a word. She knew that if I were really lucky, I might find out how beautiful her way was

Well I was not nice enough to benefit from her beautiful works, but this lady was an unflappable rock, one who had the wisdom to be happy through anything. And I wish I could again experience the Snell of her fresh baking bread, and her beautiful Italian love song singing.

Until we meet again, beautiful.

Mike J. from upstairs.