~ The Advocate Asks ~

Abettina Dell’Orfano Morano talks proudly about the 99 auto insurance rating she has maintained after turning 100

 

Editor’s Note: For this week’s column, we sat down with Abettina Dell’Orfano “Dell” Morano, the newest Centenarian of Saugus, who celebrated her 100th birthday on March 20. She is the youngest of 11 children of Italian immigrants who moved to East Boston, where she was born in 1925. She is a 1943 graduate of Tewksbury High School. She was a certified licensed phlebotomist and also worked as a medical assistant, before going to work at the Registration Board of Medicine for Doctors and Nurses at the State House in Boston. She retired from that position in 1959, when she had her first son, David. About a year later, she had a second son, Philip. Both sons are Saugus High School graduates and went on to earn college degrees at Northeastern University. She has two grandchildren. Her late husband, Anthony, served in the U.S. Navy in World War II. Dell maintains a remarkable and independent lifestyle for somebody her age. She still drives a car, shops and cooks for herself. She once was a professional bowler and bowled for fun up until last year. During her spare time, she works on a computer writing stories. It was a son’s gift of a computer that launched her writing career late in life. She is the author of “Fading Shadows: An Immigrant’s Tale of Life in America,” a novel that’s based on a true story (Oct. 31, 2014). She’s working on a second book, “Reflections of Fading Shadows.” A woman of great faith, she is a member of First Parish Congregational Church in Wakefield. Highlights of this week’s interview follow.

 

Q: How long have you been driving and what was your first car?

A: Since I was 16. In 1951 I got my first new car: a Chevy Bel Air. I would drive to the Bel-Aire Diner on Route 1 to show off my Bel Air.

Q: What color was it?

A: It was a two-tone color: black and white.

Q: You’ve been driving a long time.

A: Yes, I like driving. One time I drove to Chicago with my sons to visit my sister. I used to introduce my boys to all types of travel. The first time we went to Chicago, we flew. The second time, we took a sleeper train. And the third time, we drove. I was young and daring. If you talk to the boys – we lived in the car.

Q: Are you a pretty good driver?

A: Yes. I have a 99 rating. [A 99 rating in auto insurance means a driver has six years of clean driving experience and is considered an excellent driver who is eligible for good driver discounts.) But right now I don’t drive half as much as I used to. I don’t go out at night. I don’t go driving to any supermarkets. I just drive nearby.

Q: What kind of car do you drive now?

A: A 2000 Toyota Celica GT. On July 7 it will be 25 years old.

Q: How many miles does it have on it?

A: 108,000 miles. I’ve had a lot of cars over the years. I started off with the Chevy Bel Air. I had a ’98 Oldsmobile that drove like a Cadillac. I’ve had a lot of Toyota Camrys. This one is the last one I bought – a Toyota Celica GT.

Q: I see you are still a registered voter.

A: Yes, I’m unenrolled.

Q: Who was the first president you voted for?

A: FDR [Franklin Delano Roosevelt]. I voted for him in World War II.

Q: Who was your favorite president?

A: FDR.

Q: You are a pretty dedicated voter – participating in all of the elections?

A: I vote as often as I can. I’m interested in what’s going on. More so now, because Trump is in.

Q: Do you still cook?

A: Yes, I have to eat.

Q: Are you a good cook?

A: I don’t want to say ‘good.’ I watch what I eat so I can live well.

Q: What’s the secret to your longevity?

A: I have to thank God. All of the goodness that’s in me comes from God – blessing upon blessing. Whatever you write, God comes first. I want to give God the glory because he’s been taking care of me for the past 100 years.

Next, I have to thank my father for the DNA. I’m the 11th child and the other 10 are deceased. I was the 11th kid. We were poor, and when my mother died, the City of Boston stepped in because my father couldn’t handle 11 babies. As strict as he was, I couldn’t ask for a better father.

I was taken away from the homestead when I was one years old, when my mom died. I was taken away by the Child Welfare Division in the City of Boston. And they would find homes for you.

My father was a laborer. He had to work every day, but he never forgot us. He came to see us. He took us home in 1941. He had to go through a lot of red tape, but we went back home to East Boston.

My father served in the Army during World War I and died at age 90. And I thought 90 was old.

Q: Please tell me about your mom.

A: Though I never knew her, I loved and honored her, because she was my mother. It’s hard for a little girl to grow up without a mother. I didn’t know her, but I still loved and honored her.

Q: Please tell me a little bit about your cooking routine. You look pretty fit for somebody your age. So, what about your diet?

A: I take care of my own meals. I make sure I eat something three times a day, but I have a lot of snacks. I’m careful about what I eat. I eat a lot of snacks, but they are healthy snacks. A little of everything is good for you.

Q: Do you eat a lot of vegetables, like broccoli?

A: Broccoli can be hard on you. They can poke holes in your intestines. I’m careful what I eat.

Q: What’s your favorite meal?
  A: I like pasta. Maybe I eat it because it’s easy to digest. I also like to eat sweet potatoes and some kind of meat. Everything I have, I bake. I can’t have fried food.

Q: So, you had a very special birthday. Please tell me about it.

A: In church they gave me a standing ovation, and my sons were with me. I love my two boys.

Q: Do you have a hobby?

A: When I was younger, I loved to bowl. I loved the competition in bowling. I think it keeps you active for a while. I just hung the bowling shoes up in October of last year.

Q: Did you ever bowl a 300 game?

A: No, but I bowled a 291 when I earned the patch from the Massachusetts Bowling Association.

Q: Who is your hero?

A: Nobody. I don’t look up to anybody – just me. If you want to be somebody, be yourself.

Q: Do you have any advice to those people who are aspiring to live to age 100?

A: Be kind. Be honest. Be sincere. You only get one life to live. You only live once. Watch your words. Be a builder. Rejoice for everybody. Encourage those who need it. You go this way only once.

I’m a builder, encouraging children to go beyond their abilities. I believe in the Bible. That was my guide to God.

Q: What are you most proud of in your life?

A: I’m most proud of my boys – watching them accomplish everything as they grow up, from boys to men. I have the best two sons in the world. They make me so proud. My son David made Eagle Scout as a member of a Saugus Boy Scout troop. Both boys graduated from Saugus High School – in 1977 and 1978. They both graduated from Northeastern University. That’s where David got his doctorate in electrical engineering.

Q: What’s on your bucket list? Do you have any remaining goals in your life?

A: I’d like to finish my book, “Reflections of ‘Fading Shadows,” which was my first book.