Andrea Della Bella: Urging Her Son
On
It
wasn't all that easy for Andrea Della Bella, 59. She was
a lifelong diabetic, though she controlled it enough that
she could enjoy an occasional Godiva chocolate. She
developed osteoporosis, and, her husband, Vincent, said,
had a hard time with the medication.
And yet there were never any complaints. "She never
found fault with anything. She was always with that
smile," he said. The Jersey City couple would have been
married 40 years last Feb. 22.
A little lady -- 4-foot-11 and 100 pounds, if that --
who worked hard. She loved the view from the 103rd floor
at 2 World Trade Center, where she worked as an
administrative assistant at Aon. "She never missed work,"
Mr. Della Bella said. "I used to tell her, 'You go in any
earlier, you'll need to get the key off the
janitor.'"
When her only child, James, strayed -- quitting
school, getting in trouble, doing time in jail -- she
never gave up on him. "She was always there, she always
had hope," James Della Bella said.
While he was in prison, she encouraged him to get his
G.E.D., and, when he got out, to pursue college. He did,
and received a scholarship to Fairleigh Dickinson
University. Last August, he met his mother in the lobby
of the trade center. He had something to show her
&emdash; his report card for the summer session. Her boy
had gotten all A's.
.
