Newark, New Jersey, in the mid-twentieth century, was, for a teenager growing up, a mix of wonder and fear, excitement and discovery, joy and pain. What I have written is memory–a life not necessarily as I have lived it, but as I have remembered it. I have spent my days slipping over the surface of life, seldom probing its depths. I have learned a little about everything, but never quite gaining the wisdom that comes from living out the true essence of one's being. Like an old phonograph needle that skims across a plastic landscape producing only endless sounds, we do not value the ups and downs, the peaks and valleys of life. Yet, it is on the slopes and depths that the music is heard. It takes a lifetime to play it back and hear it. This is a memoir of the spirit that reveals the meaning of one's existence.
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Harry L. Serio. The Dwelling Place of Wonder
THE DWELLING PLACE OF WONDER
Table of Contents
PREFACE
THE PLAY IS MEMORY
PRESENT AT THE CREATION
FAMILIA
TABLE OF MEMORIES
THE FARMER FROM SARATOV
THE MAD MONK
AMONG THE GLADIATORS
THE SUNSHINE HOOK
THE ROLLING GARDENS OF PACIFIC STREET
RENAISSANCE MAN
AUNT BETTE
BILLY
THE RAT SAFARI
SATURDAY MATINEE AT THE RIVOLI
THE RESTORER OF SOULS
“HELLO DARKNESS, MY OLD FRIEND”
NEWSPAPERS
EYES ON THE STEEPLE
THE CHURCH OF THE VANISHING JESUS
IT STARTED WITH A COFFEE CAN
THE OAK IN INDEPENDENCE PARK
THE MAGIC SANDBOX
A FRIEND FROM LITHUANIA
CIRCUMAMBULATING THE MARNE
HOLOCAUST
THE CRONE
BANANA BOB SLEEPS WITH THE FISHES
CHASING GYPSIES
ANGELS DESCENDING
BUTTERFLY WINGS
WORDSWORTH WILLIAMS
GHOSTS
A TRICKLE OF BLOOD IN THE GUTTER
WALKING THE GOAT
MURDER IN THE MORNING
MEMORIES OF CATS AND OTHER STRANGERS
PASSING SHIPS
“I WILL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS”
THE GLOAMING
ON BRADLEY CREEK
THE DWELLING PLACE OF WONDER
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Harry L. Serio
Life is not accidental, but it is nevertheless filled with events that astonish and amaze as well as the ordinary routines that everyone moves through. Heredity, environment, relationships, and so many other factors add to the beauty and wonder of life. Ralph Waldo Emerson was right when he observed, “Evermore in the world is this marvelous balance of beauty and disgust, magnificence and rats.”
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And yet the genealogies are important—as important as the West African griot, the keeper of the oral tradition who runs his fingers down the memory board or knotted cord reciting the stories of his tribe. To remember the stories and traditions of your family is to provide a bond that unites us not only to our brothers, sisters, cousins, and other contemporary relatives, but also to the long line of our forebears stretching back as far as recorded history and memory permit.
In this day of the “Great Disconnect,” when the world is expanding exponentially, moving us away from one another, it is so important to remember our stories and pass them on to our children.
