© 2011 Paul Forte A collection of short anecdotes submitted by various people Short Anecdotes
Dad and his bargains
somewhat gifted on the dance floor. Up until this point, the Mortalese locals knew only the traditional Italian dances such as the tarantella, but Consalvo took it upon himself to introduce the villagers to the more intricate moves of the Argentinian tango.
Chocolate Enterprise
Mortale, The Tango and The Bishop I recently discovered a wonderful story told to me by Alba Forte in Mortale who, years ago, was shown a copy of a letter to the Bishop of Sora from the Casalattico Priest. The letter currently resides in the archives of the Bishopric and, sadly, she was unable to persuade the archivist to give her a copy. It dates back to the 1930s, when a certain Consalvo Forte returned to the village from the UK. Consalvo was quite a character and clearly fancied himself as
Dad and Double Yellow Lines Dad always maintained that if you parked on double yellow lines outside Barclays Bank the police didn't mind, as 'they knew you wouldn't be long if you were only going to the bank'.
It took me years to realise that, when he was in business at the Western Road shop, a number of policemen and traffic wardens would go round the back entrance to the kitchens and be given free coffees/teas/meals, and they all knew which car belonged to Dad.
The Miracle at Lourdes
the Town Hall in Belfast. Apparently his work can still be seen there. We were also told that the family stayed in Marmande in France on their way to Britain and some settled there. They travelled with all their possessions in a hand cart. Just outside Marmande, one of the children swallowed a needle. It got stuck in his throat and he was choking and near to death. The story goes that, as Lourdes was not far away they either took the child there or prayed to Our Lady of Lourdes for a miracle. The child started to choke and coughed up the needle. This was considered to be a true miracle by the doctor and the family.
The "Blind" Beggar
As they were walking along, he saw money on the ground and quickly covered it with his foot. He was angry with his wife because he said that he was the one that was supposed to be blind but he could see more than she could. Apparently they had to wait until the coast was clear and she was able to bend down to get the coin. visitors to this site |