Month: February 2013

Judy Lopez sits on the couch sipping a soda. Her husband, Ricky, settles into the recliner with Dixie, a bug-eyed pug, riding shotgun on its ample arm. It doesn’t get better than this. The trio is content to tune in to the flat-screen TV. Ricky, a tall, dark man with ocean-deep eyes, and Judy, pretty in a practical page-boy, got married late in life. He was 39, and she was 42 when they became man and wife a decade ago. They added Dixie to their family a year after their wedding. An AOL personal…

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The diamond engagement ring doesn’t come off Ronnie Hartley‘s finger easily. For nearly 46 years, she’s worn it, ever since Roger, her dear and dearly departed, gave it to her. He had been betrothed to another; that’s why he had the ring handy. “I only knew him a month, and we’d only gone out on one date when I proposed to him,” says Ronnie. “The ring fit me perfectly. He wanted to change the setting because it was for the other woman, but I said, ‘The…

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In the front window, there’s a baby-blue neon sign shaped like a key. The words LICENSED LOCKSMITH glow in gold along its length. In case you miss it, there’s a banner that screams, for all intents and purposes, that this is the one and only Admiral Locksmith (keys made while you wait) that’s been on Broadway at 37th Street for more than six decades. It’s backed up by a two-story-high marquee that looks as though it belongs on that other Broadway. If you still don’t…

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He was playing in the park when it happened. Somehow, the trinity of gold religious medals that he always wore slipped from his neck. Aaron Caruso‘s mother was so steamed that she made him go back to find them. It was raining that day in the park, and 11-year-old Aaron took 10 steps, and there they were waiting for him. His mother was not surprised. She had prayed for the safe return of Saint Anthony, the Holy Cross and Jesus, telling God that her son would sing for him. Aaron found his big…

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