Despite the everlasting sorrow that Roberto Bonetti endures from the death of his 2-year-old son last year, he was nonetheless filled with tears of joy when the Jersey City Public Library dedicated the children’s book room in his son’s honor on Thursday.
“When I received the call, I thought someone was playing a practical joke,” Mr. Bonetti said last week. But, as it turns out, Mayor Glenn D. Cunningham had worked with library officials to memorialize the child’s death after reading about him in the newspaper.
Vincenzo Domenico Bonetti II died from uncertain causes on Jan. 27, 2001. His family recently took out an advertisement in a local daily newspaper paying tribute to their son on the one-year anniversary.
Bonetti was an unusual 2-year-old. At the time of his death, he spoke English, Italian, and a separate dialect of Italian.
Describing the toddler’s taste for learning, love for people, and courage in the face of death, the memoriam grabbed Cunningham’s attention.
“Domenico was a grown man before he took his last breath,” the memoriam said. “He asked only for a drink of water and shed not a single tear.”
Cunningham called Priscilla Gardner, the director of the library, and asked if there was something that could be done to honor Bonetti II. Gardner, in turn, came up with the suggestion of naming the children’s room in the library’s main branch on Jersey Avenue after the boy.
“What better way to honor a child,” Cunningham said about the suggestion. He said that Vincenzo’s early development of language skills represented the basic ideals that the children’s book room strives to achieve.
“I never knew him and I never saw him,” Cunningham told the family. “But I knew he was special. He’s always going to be in your hearts. But now he’s going to be in everybody’s hearts.”
At the dedication, a framed picture of the 2-year-old boy was unveiled above a plaque that described his personality, accomplishments, and early death. Library officials described the room as a “happy place” to remember Bonetti II. There are construction paper cutouts of the alphabet, Disney characters, and Loony Tunes.
“I am familiar and friendly with the family,” said Deborah Oriol, the department manager of the children’s book room. Speaking to the relatives of Bonetti II, Oriol defined the word “dedicate” as “to promise.” She said that the children’s room of the library would “promise to respect, and uphold the name Vincenzo forever.” The child’s name is now branded on glass on top of the entrance to the children’s department on the first floor of the library.
Amidst the affectionate remarks from city officials and librarians, the parents of Bonetti II offered some descriptive anecdotes about the boy’s endearing presence.
“Whenever I hugged him, I always called him my little man,” Mr. Bonetti said. “I never had the courage and spirit that he always had.” His father recalled how Bonetti II would often lend a helping hand in his father’s Laundromat. “He would help me move boxes, and I would laugh,” Mr. Bonetti said. “And he’d say, “No, papa. Don’t laugh. I help, I help.”
Mrs. Bonetti said that her son would call every child that came into the store a “baby” in an endearing way. An example of his early maturity, she said, was his morningtime concern about his sister.
“When he woke up in the morning, he would ask how his sister was doing,” she said. At the time of his death, Bonetti II’s sister was only a few months old.
Touched by and appreciative of the city’s gesture, Mr. Bonetti donated $2,000 to the children’s book room.