Love Story: How 2 left feet turned into a marriage of 69 years

Dorothy Schiavone of Bellmore talks about how meeting her husband, Dominick, was a step in the right direction.

When I emigrated from Italy to the United States with my mother and sister in 1937, I was 9 years old and my name was Dorothy Salvemini. I went to Sacred Heart Grammar School in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and learned English from the bottom up (and won the eighth-grade English medal, which came with a prize of $5).

In February 1947, at age 19, a little older than most students, I graduated from Girls Commercial High School in Brooklyn. My best friend, Ann, had a graduation party and invited her boyfriend, Mario, who invited his friend Dominick. I was introduced to Dominick, 20, who was recently discharged from his Army tour in the Philippines as a sergeant.  

Since I loved to dance, I started chatting and asked if he liked dancing. He said, “I have two left feet.” I was so naïve, I thought it meant he was a great dancer. Little did I know I would be giving him dance lessons. Today we still get compliments whenever we dance together.  

We started dating and saw each other every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. I lived in Red Hook and he lived in Park Slope. Dominick didn’t own a car, so he rode the Union Street bus to pick me up. We would often walk to Prospect Park or take the trolley to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Dominick worked in the Erie Basin area of Brooklyn for the New York Dock Railway, and I worked as a secretary at Hunter & Co., a financial company in Manhattan.  We were engaged Christmas Eve 1949 and married a year later, on Dec. 2, 1950, at St. Stephen’s Church in Red Hook. Our reception was at Hotel Granada.  We moved to a small apartment in Park Slope.  

Dominick was hired by the New York Telephone Co. as a frameman earning $45 a week, $5 less than I was earning.  I continued working as a secretary until our first daughter was born in 1956. After that I was a stay-at-home mom.  

Two more daughters were born while we lived in Park Slope, and in 1965 we moved to Bellmore, where we live today. I worked as a part-time secretary at Dime Savings Bank in Garden City until Dominick retired from his position of design plant engineer in 1988.

We have stayed active. Dominick joined the Knights of Columbus and became a third-degree member and an honorary life member. He served in the Bellmore Auxiliary Police for 17 years, retiring as a lieutenant. I joined the St. Barnabas Rosary Society, where I was president. I also led a Brownie troop for 10 years. Dominick joined the Knights of Columbus Retirees, climbing to vice president and president.  We both joined the Telephone Pioneer Retirees, serving on the board and doing volunteer work.  In 2010 Dominick was awarded the Town of Hempstead Veterans’ Medal.  We’re now active at the Bellmore Senior Center, where Dominick is a board member.

We love to travel and have been to Italy three times, once visiting my place of birth, Molfetta, Bari. We love cruising and have sailed to Alaska, the Caribbean, Bermuda, Nova Scotia, and through the Panama Canal. Six years ago, Dominick and I — along with our daughters, sons-in-law, five grandchildren and friends — went on a cruise to Bermuda. We’re looking forward to celebrating our 70th anniversary this year. We have been deeply blessed with a wonderful family.  

— With Ann Donahue-Smukler