September 6, 2026
(Photo from Jennie DiBerardino’s hospital room)
“Have a Rainbow Day!”
By Louis A. DiBerardino, AIA
August 19th marked the fifth anniversary of my mother Jennie DiBerardino’s passing, so my family and I were hoping for another glorious rainbow from her. That’s because rainbows were kind of Jennie’s thing.
“Have a Rainbow Day” was one of her signature sayings – used when saying goodbye on a phone call, as part of her salutation on a greeting card, and in so many other ways. This saying wasn’t Jennie’s creation. She made it her own after routinely watching the local morning TV Mass with Father John Gatzak of the Archdiocese of Hartford, who used the same expression when signing off each episode of his show.
Limiting her independence, Jennie struggled with significant vision loss for the last half of her nearly 85 years of life. Father Gatzak provided the opportunity for her to “attend” daily Mass even at home.
I feel that Jennie’s lack of vision actually made her an even more compassionate person. She was a good listener, perhaps because that sense was heightened. Jennie could recall in detail previous conversations she had with you and made it a point to follow up on all your news.
Jennie’s last weeks were difficult for sure, but her faith in God made her one of the strongest people I have ever known. In fact, during those last days with her in the ICU on a ventilator, often it was Mom who comforted and consoled us.
Jennie was known to get in the last “good-bye” while on a phone call with you. I think it was her way of being polite – she wouldn’t want you to think that she had just hung up on you. During her last days, though, speaking the last good-bye was not possible for her. We had hoped for one last conversation with her.
At her last moments with us, though, brilliant sun began to peek through an otherwise overcast, gloomy day. And then, just after Jennie passed, a most magnificent full rainbow could be seen from her hospital room as if she was saying, “Have a Rainbow Day!”
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