“Sometimes, dreams don’t work out exactly as you imagined.”
“ The very first time I met Charlie in Church, I justvknew wasn’t like the other boys. He was so handsome and selfconfident.”
“Charlie nicknamed me Fanny. He said my brown long curls blowing in the breeze reminded him of his father’s fan.”
“A few times a week, I’d dance to his accordion music on the Staten Island Ferry. The passengers loved his music and my colorful outfits. The tips paid for his music lessons. We were quite the couple.”
“Charlie wrote his first solo composition during the summer we picked corn on the Magnante Farm in South Jersey…He said I was his inspiration.”
“After high school, I worked at the S&H Green Stamp Company in lower Manhattan. On the rare weekend I wasn’t with Charlie, my S&H girl friends and I played on the beaches of Long Island.”
“Charlie got his first big break at 23. He became a solo accordionist in the Erno Rapee orchestra at the world-famous Radio City Music Hall. I watched every performance.�
“We celebrated our good fortune dancing the night away at the Cotton Club in Harlem. I thought he was going to propose, but he promised instead.�
“Charlie signed with a big-time talent agency during his Radio City days. They promised to make him a recording star. I noticed the girls swoon whenever he performed. He told me not to worry, he would always be mine.�
“Charlie’s new agent, Rick, convinced him to travel around America as a regular on the popular CBS Radio show, the Major Bowes Hour. Rick told Charlie the exposure would sell more records.”
“Rick was right! Before long, there were more recording sessions, more record albums, more radio appearances, and less dinners and less telephone calls. I wondered.�
“Suddenly, there was Margie! I was stunned and embarrassed when his mother told me. How could I have been so naive?�
“Eventually, I decided to get on with my life. But itmwasn’t easy because it Charlie seemedvto be everywhere. My sister Jenny even bought his comic book. Ugh!”
“I met a successful businessman named Matty on a blind date arranged by my sister Jenny. He was a real romantic. He proposed during a candlelight dinner . I couldn’t say no.”
“To my complete surprise, Margie couldn’t handle Charlie’s success and committed suicide. And, Charlie, who had been experimenting with prescription drugs had a nervous breakdown.”
“I kept in touch with Charlie during his darkest days. When he returned to the limelight with a sold-out concert at world-famous Carnegie Hall, Matty and I attended as guests. Matty didn’t say much that night, but he knew.”
“A few years later, Charlie had his own radio show on NBC where he composed and produced most of his own arrangements with his orchestra.�
“I watched from the distance as Hollywood discovered Charlie, who became quite full of himself. He composed songs for the motion pictures, and apparently had a shortlived affair with Marlene Dietrich, until she dumped him.�
“Life with Matty was great. The money flowed. He treated me like a queen. And, he never once brought up the subject of Charlie.”
“Matty thought it a little odd when I insisted our son, Gerard, take accordion lessons. I guess it was my way of staying in touch with Charlie.�
“Life with Matty came to an abrupt halt. He died in his sleep at 60, his business partner, Tino DeAngelis went to jail for income tax evasion, and IRS told me I owed them $2.2 million in back taxes. I had to go back to work to make ends meet.�
“Charlie rode his own roller coaster. His music went out of favor, he couldn’t get a job, but married a nice lady named Charlotte. He accepted the fact he was addicted to prescription drugs and had severe spinal problems that required high-risk surgery.”
“Charlie’s surgery did not go well. He was left completely paralyzed, had difficulty swallowing, and died some months later. His peers from all over the world had an amazing Memorial Concert at the Hilton Hotel in New York City. Yes, I attended.”
“Not long after the Hilton concert, Charlotte surprised me with a master recording Charlie made for me. She said he worked on it for months before the surgery, and asked her if anything happened, to give it to me, along with a note he had written.�
“Every now and then, when I want to see Charlie, I play his album. Like old times, we dance the night away at the Cotton Club. When it’s time to leave, he always says the same thing: ‘Fanny, Save the Last Dance for Me.’”
“People always ask, how did I come to write this story? …Fanny was my mother.”
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