From Hempstead to Sag Harbor to here
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Although Linda Bonaccorso was born in Hempstead in Nassau County, her parents moved their family of four children to Sag Harbor when Linda was seven. “Hempstead was getting rough,” she remembered, “and with four kids, there really wasn’t a lot of money for private school. In retrospect now, as an adult, looking back that was a very sacrificial thing for my parents to do, because they really gave up a lot. When we moved out here it wasn’t the way it is now. The community at that time wasn’t really very racially diverse. In a lot of ways it’s a different world now.” Her mother is Italian, Sicilian and a combination of Egyptian and Welsh, “So needless to say she was gorgeous and still is,” and her dad is an American black with some Cherokee. Although Sag Harbor is home to one of the oldest black vacation communities, those kids “disappeared in the winter.”
“I mean we grew up color-blind, but when we moved out here, that’s when I saw that ‘Oh, I’m different.’ It wasn’t anything that we really noticed until we moved out here.” Because her parents were very active in the Hempstead community, her father coaching football, baseball, swimming and her mother with the PTA, dance and yoga, “They gave up a lot, back then, 1976, to move out to what was then pretty much the boonies, really because of his dreams for us. I really appreciate that; it was a sacrifice my parents made that I will be grateful for always, because it was a beautiful place to raise children. My mom grew to love Sag Harbor, but I imagine that coming from where she was coming from, with an active social life and her ethnicity, it must have been tough.”
Linda went to the Sag Harbor schools and Ohio University, and earned a bachelor’s degree in English. She went on to take early childhood courses as well. Although she claims she’s “still wondering what I want to be when I grow up,” in actuality she seems to be quite delighted with where she now finds herself. She works with 3- to 4-year-olds in a non-profit pre-K program in East Hampton.
“I do love it, I wake up and I look forward to going to work and I really thank God for that every morning. Will I ever be a millionaire? No, but I’ll go to my grave knowing I loved what I did.” She went on, “I personally believe early childhood doesn’t get the respect it deserves. I’ve had people ask me ‘When are you going to get a real teaching job.’ But for the children, it’s their first impression of the world outside their homes,” and she believes that can be a make-or-break experience.
Her husband Frank is “a wonderful man,” and works for a heating and air conditioning company in East Hampton, where he’s the manager. It’s where they lived when they were first married. They were “best buddies” in high school and then “kind of lost touch” while she was away in college but hooked up again after her graduation. “We got together in 1990, married in ‘91. It was nice. We didn’t have to go through that getting to know you phase.”
The couple is currently in line to adopt a Chinese infant, and just updated their application this past summer. But it’s a very long and tedious process; they’ve been at it for five years now. “There are fewer orphans available since the Chinese economy has been doing better, that’s great for them but slows things down here. What makes it harder? I know people mean well, but it is the same question all the time, ‘How’s the adoption coming?’ People do mean well but it can be wearing. I’ve said, ‘God, you’re in control, it’s gonna happen when you say.’ I’ve done all I can do. We can have a plan but some times God has something else in mind. I never look at anyone and say ‘Oh, wow! They have it so easy.’ No one has an easy life.”
When asked how the couple made the move from East Hampton to Shelter Island, Linda started to laugh. “My husband did some work over here and fell in love with it. He came and told me and I said ‘Absolutely not, the ferry, it’s the middle of nowhere.’ He did the wise thing and didn’t pester me about it but he specifically prayed for a house on Midway Road, he just loved this street, loved it, loved it, but he didn’t tell me, which was smart.” When their lease was not renewed and after nine months of staying with relatives, “It was a cold weekend and it would have been in 2000. I was sick, depressed, just came over to the Island, drove around and all of a sudden it was like little window shades went up. I went to a couple of brokers and ran into Janalyn [Travis-Messer.] She was so sweet and she told me about this little place and drove me over, and all of a sudden, it was ‘Oh this cute little house.’ I went home and told my husband, who wanted to choke me because I made it sound like my idea. ‘I found a place on Shelter Island on Midway Road!’” And they’re currently building a house, doing it themselves on their land, and when the house is done they’ll move in and rent the cottage.
With long work days and her commute, Linda has little free time but she makes an exception for the music she loves. Last year she performed a recital at the Floyd Memorial Library in Greenport with Mark Quintana, former director of the Community Chorus. She’s the church soloist at the Sag Harbor Methodist Church as well as a board member and soprano in the Shelter Island Community Chorus.