[NFB-Idaho] Joe

Fri Jul 1 21:46:13 UTC 2022

What a great story! Thank you for sharing.

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From: NFB-Idaho [mailto:nfb-idaho-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kevin Pirnie via NFB-Idaho
Sent: Friday, July 01, 2022 3:12 PM
To: NFB of Idaho Discussion List
Cc: Kevin Pirnie
Subject: [NFB-Idaho] Joe

 The blind man opened the front door of the house but stopped his little
boy before he ran out to meet the school bus. The blind man knelt and said,
“Son, watch who you talk to because some people out there don’t like me. If
someone starts a fight because I am your dad, take off running!”

“OK Dad.” And the little boy eagerly ran off to catch the bus.

True, some in town did not like him. Not because he, Joe Spicola was blind,
but because he was the judge in Trinidad, Colorado who sentenced some town
folk to jail.

Giuseppi Joe Carmal Spicola was born May 28, 1900, in Hastings, Colorado,
the son of Italian immigrants. At the age of nine, Joe and friends were
playing with a discarded dynamite cap near railroad tracks when the cap
exploded, blinding him for life.

His parents sent him to the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind in
Colorado Springs, more than 100 miles away. It was too far for Joe to come
home for long weekends. His mother became so depressed over what she felt
was the loss of her only son, that she died of heartbreak a year after he
left for school.

At school, Joe learned to read and write in Braille, type, play several
musical instruments, make brooms and tune pianos. After graduating in 1921,
Joe returned to his Uncle, living in Trinidad, went to work for a local
broom shop with sighted men and advertised as a piano tuner. He formed a
band and played for many weddings, dances and community events. Joe even
helped others look for work in the Trinidad area, for a small fee. Everyone
knew and trusted Joe.

He secured a position with the city at the weigh station, to record the
weight of freight, mostly coal at that time. This was necessary to
determine the taxes due Trinidad or El Paso County. He felt financially
stable enough to support a family. In 1933, he married the love of his
life, Sadie, and gave her five-year-old son his name. She died after more
than a decade of marriage, leaving Joe broken-hearted. Her son stayed with
Joe until he became of age. Joe married twice more, looking for the love he
had with Sadie, but it was not to be. Each marriage ended in divorce.

Divorce in the 1950’s or 1960’s, usually meant that the mother gained
custody of the minor children. Not so with Joe.  He had sole custody of his
two small children from his last marriage. He taught them to cook good
Italian food from scratch, including his pasta and secret spaghetti sauce,
by pulling up a chair to the counter and holding their hands with his when
measuring or stirring their dinner. “Some day, you will grow up and you may
not have a wife to cook for you. Best learn now how to cook for yourself.”

Joe always had sound wisdom to impart to his children. They came to him
with their troubles, knowing he would listen to them first and not pass
judgement. “Choose your friends wisely because they can make or break you.”
 He never spanked his kids, electing meaningful, related consequences that
taught a lesson.

Joe was elected local Judge for Trinidad because of his popularity around
town. Because he worked all day at city hall as judge from 1948, Joe hired
a young girl from their neighborhood to come in and clean twice a week. He
bought cars and hired a neighbor to drive for him and the family. Groceries
were ordered by Joe over the phone and picked up by the children on their
way home from school.

When Joe got home about 5:30, he cooked supper for the kids, helped with
homework, called a cab to get to his second job as host of his daily
Italian-American hour over KCRT radio.  Then it was back home to put the
kids to bed.

Bedtime was special. Joe ordered recorded material on phonograph records,
through the library for the blind section of the Denver Public
Library. Almost every night, his two children came into his room, hopped on
the bed, and snuggled down to listen with their father to the latest
recorded book that came in the mail. It was a special time for the whole
family.

After getting the kids breakfast and off to school, Joe got a ride to City
Hall where he prepared and heard cases. Being elected years before his last
two children were born, they only knew him as “the Judge.”   No one
remembers him using a cane. No public transportation existed in town so he
either walked or got a ride from someone at City Hall, a cab, or a
neighbor. When he attended the school for the blind, traveling with a cane
was not taught. When walking to church each Sunday, Joe took the hand of
each of his children and they, walked three abreast, down the
sidewalk. Daddy was always in charge. The kids never felt as though they
had to lead their father.

A grocery store across from the school received a call from Joe for the
week telling of the lunches he wanted the little store to prepare for his
kids. When recess came, the kids went to the store to eat their lunch. Not
only did he ensure they ate well, but others reported back to him on what
his kids were up to, or not.

Their neighborhood was a mix of Italian, Hispanic and some Anglos. Joe’s
children learned the “neighborhood” language, a pidgin English of sorts
with a mixture of Italian and Spanish words. His son asked Joe to teach
them Italian as Joe spoke only Italian on his radio show, where he played
Italian music.

 “No.” Joe said. “We live in America. You will speak English.” The only
regret his youngest son had regarding his father was not learning his
Italian roots.

Now, there were some in town who did not like the judge who sent them or
their loved ones to jail. But there were many who appreciated the judge’s
compassion, wisdom and action on their behalf when they were in a tight
jam.

A young neighborhood boy got into trouble with the law. He came to Joe
outside of court, sorry for what he’d done. His parents did not want him to
go to jail, yet wanted the boy to pay for his crimes. When the case got to
Joe, the boy had to do community service and make full restitution to the
family. If the boy did, Joe would not send him to jail. If he slacked off,
Joe would make sure the case came back to him. The young boy did make
restitution and more, thanking Joe later for believing in him.

Early in Joe’s term as Judge, a soldier on his way back to base from leave
had car trouble. Somehow Joe learned, through friendly chatter around town,
that the young man could not find a garage that would get the car fixed in
time for him to make it back to base before he was listed as AWOL. The
soldier told his story to the judge. Joe asked where he left his car, then
called up the garage and told them to get the car fixed right away for our
serviceman. “That’s an order from the Judge.” The young man had his car in
a few hours and made it back to base in the nick of time. Years later, the
soldier, looking for Joe who died years before, found  Joe’s son, and told
the story. He regretted he waited too long to thank the man who saved his
military career.

Joe had a heart attack at age 66 and could not climb the stairs. The dining
room of their home was converted into Joe’s bedroom where he recovered
quickly. That is why it was such a surprise when he had a second heart
attack January 1, 1968 and did not survive. Joe left his two youngest
children in seventh and eighth grade to mourn the loss of their loving
parent. His older two children, including Sadie’s son were adults at the
time of his death.
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