MIMI AND BEEBE CALLARINI

John 15:11 "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."

    It was around 1963.  I was alone in New Orleans hunting for a place to eat that was different than the ordinary menu. I needed a place with plenty of atmosphere, so I parked my car near the River Walk and began searching for the perfect, quaint place. As I passed Decatur Street, I noticed a crowd milling around the street two blocks away. Thinking there might be an interesting street performer, I decided to investigate. Upon approaching the crowd, I noticed something quite odd.  The crowd was perfectly quiet; not a single sound seemed to emanate from them, some standing like statues, others swaying to the music, hands by their sides or folded in front of them, mesmerized by what took place in front.        

     I moved closer.  I, too, heard it. A sound so true and mellow that I froze in my tracks.  Listening closely, I heard a voice that was either alto or contralto, and another that was soprano, singing arias.  Their voices were so vibrant and rich that I could imagine the angels, themselves, were singing.  I found a place to stand above the crowd.  There stood two Italian ladies singing their hearts out. I dared not break the spell.  When they finished there was a long silence. Life seemed to move in slow motion before anyone dared to breathe and then…thunderous applause.  They were magnificent. I had to know more.

    That’s how I met Mimi and Beebe Callarini the owners of Sophia’s Spaghetti/Donut Parlor and Health Food Center.  They were identical twins at birth with Mimi being the eldest (and largest) of the two.

    “I’m bigger because I got here first and took the best from the menu,” she often laughed while Beebe reminded her that she, being the youngest and smallest, was the healthiest of the pair.

    “You just have your big fat laugh Miss Mimi,” Beebe said, “but I’m the one the boys will come looking for.”

    “Don’t you worry, little sister; the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.  I’ll cook up a mess of jambalaya so good that it will make you slap yo mama,” Mimi retorted.  The two of them doubled over laughing.  It was obvious they loved life, people, laughter, and each other.  The word stranger was not in their vocabulary.  “Life’s a party. Eat, enjoy. The morning is not here. See the sun is still sleeping,” they laughed in unison.

    The man next to me said that it was a laugh inherited from their nonna Sophia from the old country, whom everyone said the girls took after, both in looks and personality. He elbowed me in the side and laughing said, “Mimi has the looks, Beebe the personality”.  Mimi’s laugh came deep from within her soul and welled up and out in a staccato rhythm interspersed with an occasional snort as she caught her breath. It was a glorious laugh that caused her large frame to shake like Jell-O filling the room with its sound.  Beebe’s was exactly like her sisters but two octaves higher and instead of the occasional snort, she wheezed as she took in air. I doubled over as the two laughed in tandem, the wheezes and snorts becoming closer together as they became more hysterical.

    Suddenly the sisters stood with their hands clasped and began singing Vissi d’arte from act 2 of the opera Tosca by Puccini.  Again, the crowd fell under their spell.

    Upon finishing their entertainment, Beebe immediately worked the crowd, passing out free dietary supplements and cool glasses of radish, sardine or asparagus smoothies to counter act her sister’s heaping portions of pastries, jambalaya, and an abundance of spaghetti, all the while laughing her high wheezing laugh.

    “I will make you healthy, child, before you become as large as sister Mimi.  See she serves enormous dishes, wanting to put some flesh on those bones. Wait, you will see, you will be glad you became healthy before you get too large to waddle through the door”.

    “Don’t forget Mimi’s cheese and sausage jambalaya,” Mimi laughed as she lunged in front of her sister.

    Beebe squeezed under her sister’s gigantic arms holding her radish smoothie and said, “Here, baby, have another smoothie to ease your conscious.” The two of them held their heads back and the three of us laughed until tears were rolling down my face.

The Jambalaya was delicious, but the smoothie was not to my taste.  Sorry Beebe.

© Nippy Blair 2015. Posts and pictures on this blog cannot be copied, downloaded, printed, or used without the permission of the blog owner, Nippy Blair.