Next to her family, her greatest joy is
volunteering for the community. “If everyone
volunteered for something, even just
one day a week, how much more beautiful
everyone’s life would be. And your own
life, because if you touch another life, you
can make a difference.”
The Way Things Used to Be:
Matilda Richardson
| | CONTINUED FROM PAGE 73
never put chemicals or fertilizer on anything.
It just grew.”
Matilda keeps very active at home. “I do
puzzles. I read my Bible every day. My Bible,
I must read it before I go to bed, and when
I get up in the morning, I must read it again.
My favorite passage is Psalm 27: ‘The Lord
is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I
fear? The Lord is the strength of my life.
Who should I be afraid of?’ ”
She enjoys large family celebrations and
she loves to dance. Her birthday is on
Christmas Eve. “I like music. I like to
dance,” she says, requesting to hear and
dance to Chubby Checker’s “The Twist.”
“I always like to watch the ‘Ellen’ show. I
like to see her dance. ‘The Price is Right,’
that’s what I like.’
Matilda’s son, Sam Richardson, leads
the World Harvest Worship Center ministry
on Broad Street, where they carry her
inside the church. She goes every Sunday,
and starts calling family at six o’clock in
the morning to come pick her up. “I wear
a dress to church, but sometimes I make a
mistake and show up in pants,” Matilda
says. “I am not supposed to wear pants to
church.” Church doesn’t begin until eleven,
but she starts getting dressed first thing in
the morning. “It’s not time to go,” says Beatrice
with a laugh, “but she’s already ready.”
The Way Things Used to Be:
Richard Fossa
| | CONTINUED FROM PAGE 74
and naturally, you get ten rebels from
down in South Carolina, they go up there
and never come back healthy.
I got thrown out of more schools than
most people went to. I was a troublemaker
in those days, it was mostly fighting. We
were the immigrants of our day. On Federal
Hill, there were all Irish people before
20
20
DESIGN
COMPETITION UPDATE!
Due to challenges posed by COVID-19, Rhode Island Monthly’s
annual Design Awards Competition is going on hiatus
this year.
However, we will continue to celebrate our local architects
and designers with a 25 th anniversary Design Awards feature
showcasing the editors’ favorite winners over the years.
Look for this special presentation, along with an event for the
honorees, this fall.
Rhode Island Monthly’s Design Awards Competition will
be back in 2021 and we’ll be looking forward to seeing your
exciting new entries this time next year! —The Editors
AWARDS
Through Rhode Island PBS, it is!
All the art, music, and dance
is yours at the click of a button.
And yours is always
the best seat in the house.
Support the one place that
never stops asking, “What if?”
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l MAY/JUNE 2020 131