June 17: Suit Over Food!

Long ago, in the days before electricity, he left school perhaps after 3rd grade to help his dad in the family business delivering ice to apartments in NYC. He was a man of all trades over the years painting apartments, plowing snow, and picking up refuse in the years after the ice business was no longer needed. 

While I do not have the pictures, he was a handsome devil when he married my mother-in-law, strong and proud of his Italian heritage. Their city lifestyle suited the family for many years, but after another son arrived their apartment was cramped and the Bronx was under stress. Their move to the country town of Poughkeepsie must have been an incredible change; yet, in ways that seem to be symbolic of adapting to change, he reinvented himself to do bank security. 

He was already retired when my daughter appeared on the scene, and jumped at the chance to take her to the magical McDonalds where there were "Happy Meals" and an indoor playground! While that was not the usual fare for my "crunchy-healthy-eating-child," I saw the delight in his eyes and always bit my tongue. I also knew there were sweets on the empty kitchen chair that all the grands consumed when there! 

Perhaps my favorite story was from his latter years when his words were fewer and yet packed a punch. When my son turned 13 and growing like a weed while eating us out of house and home, we asked Grandpa if he had any messages for us as parents of a teen. He responded quickly as if the thought was already to emerge, "I'd rather buy him a suit of clothes than feed 'em!"  THIS was long before the current crazy food price inflation!

Anthony could be gruff, at times, but his heart was in the right place. He'd be mighty proud of all those children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren who carry his name into the future and share his ability to adapt the the many changes life has to offer, including the littlest ones who are already eating their parents out of house and home. 

 

1 child, 3 daughters-in-law, 7/9 grandchildren