The Season of Remembering

As I looked at you this evening I am still able to see the young woman that I fell in love with so many years ago.

Those green kissed eyes that I looked into that first night to see a future that has come to be are still showing a future to be.

The dreams of yesterday have been filled and blessed with the raising of our daughter to the woman that she is today.

All the passions and desires that so filled our early years are now the understanding and contentment knowing how two people truly become one.

The times of turmoil made us both realize that life is compromise and that two people are different but yet the same.

Material things that seemed so important then have turned into gestures of amusement and disbelief.

Though there are many things still left undone the preparations of today will achieve the means of tomorrow.

Our physical being have changed with time, however, the beauty that I saw then I see more today.

All my love now and tomorrow.

A Blink of an Eye

With a blink of an eye I'm at St Joseph's Hospital 23 years ago at the birth of a beautiful little girl, Jaclyn. As she was placed in my arms and then heard my voice her crying stopped and she rested her head on my shoulder. From that monent on my purpose in life was to love, protect and guide her to whatever life had in store for her.

With a blink of an eye I'm back in our family room as she crawled to a chair lifted her self up and took her first steps towards me.

With a blink of an eye I'm at our kitchen table designing special name tags for her first week in kindergarten.

With a blink of an eye I'm at the Cresant Hotel were we celebrated her 8th grade graduation.

With a blink of an eye I'm at Sunday Mass at St Helen's parish where a beautiful red headed girl named Molly stood in front us not knowing that she and Jaclyn would become the best of friends.

With a blink of an eye I'm looking at a young woman who is graduating high school and beginning to experience the insecurities of adult hood.

With a blink of an eye I am here seeing my daughter taking her vows with Garrick knowing that she is always my little girl but now a woman, and a wife with a family of her own.

With a blink of an eye Jaclyn and Garrick can too experience what those that have come before them have.

Questions for Immigrants - Legal and Illegal

Being a legal immigrant citizen that has been in the United States for the past 55 years, I am confused as to why anyone comes here. I know why my grandparents first came here in 1919. I know why my mother came back in 1952 and then sent for us 1954.

My questions are for you and those that believe that our constitution and laws don't apply to everyone equally.

1. Why do you come here?

Is it that your country of birth does not provide the hope and desire to lift you andyour family to thet level that you wish to achieve?

Is it that you simply want the benefits and the opportunities that America provides and nothing else?

2. Why do you not want to learn the Language?

Is it that you just don't want to?

Is it that English is to hard to learn?

Is it that you have no intention of becoming American?

3. Why once you get here that you are compelled to try to get Americans to conform to your cultural needs rather than visa verse?

Is that you recognize that Americans have become so politically correct that they would rather conform than offend?

Is it that you want to make it your home but you want it to look like your country of birth?

4. Many of you risk your lives to get here , again Why?

Is it that this the only place that allows you to earn more than you could possibly earn in your home land?

Is it that here you are judge by your efforts and not by the class of your birth?

Is it that your country of birth is so down trodden that you have no alternatives but to leave?

Is it that you can take from here and elevate yourself back in your own country?

5. The people that supposedly speak for you as a group, do they have your best interest at heart?

6. Are you being helped or hurt by there efforts?

7. What would happen to you in your country if you did exactly what you have done to come into this country?

8. Does your religion define violating laws as immoral ?

The main point of all these question is this If your country is all that you aspire to then why not use all the energy, money and activism to change it to what benefits you seek rather than to change this country because the only consequences is that you will achieve what you have left and what you did not like in the first place.

The Journey of Nicolino to Nick

To understand the present and future one has to go back to the past and in my case a little mountain farming village in Italy were I was born with the name of Nicolino. My class of birth which would ever remain with me while in Italy would be the son of peasant farmers. I mention this because the class system base society is a deterrent to personal growth and achievement in Italy and many parts of Europe.

Towards the latter part of 1948 I along with another infant were afflicted with the polio virus. My mother seeing what it was doing to me brought me from village to village to find anyone that knew what was happening to me. After going to a number of Villages she managed to find a doctor that understood the affliction and advised my mother as to what she should do to curtail the physical damage that I was experiencing. Throughout my life I have been examined by many doctors and many cannot believe that what was done to me could have stopped the virus from leaving me an invalid. This experience though a negative at the time actually turned into a positive for me because it instilled a determination in me that would carry with me the rest of my life. This early lesson was one of simply not giving up and excepting the cards that you are dealt and make the most of it.

My mother having been born in the United States but raised in Italy due to my grandfathers early death wanted more for her family so she made the sacrifice to reestablish her American citizenship by coming back to America in the latter part of 1952. Her Aunt and Uncle sponsored her and helped her find a job whereby she could save enough money so that my father, brother and I could also come to the United States in April 1954. Many sacrifices on both sides of the Atlantic had to be made to make this possible. To put it in proper perspective my mother was being paid 43 cents per hour, yes she sacrificed considerably.

The boat trip to the United States had finally arrived. If you have seen the movie Titanic then a visual of the accommodations can be imagined. We were in the lower deck just like Leonardo DiCaprio. Being only six I managed to explore every inch of that Ship, however, my father and brother were bothered with sea sickness the entire weak or so that we were on the ocean. Another lesson from this was that I always need to find out for myself what is in front of me.

As I mentioned I was six years old and had not seen my mother for almost two years, when we got off the boat I was somewhat hesitant to go to her, for she had been gone for so long. There were so many more changes in store for us. Once we arrived in Ohio and got settled we were informed by our American relatives that we need to learn to fit in and the first step was that our names had to be Americanize, therefor my father went from Michele to Mike, My brother went from Celestino to Charlie and I went from Nicolino to Nick. We also were told that we needed to learn English so that we no longer sounded foreign and the final straw was that we were enrolled in a summer camp setting so that my mother and father were able to go to work and we could be looked after. This was probably the worst week that my brother and I had ever spent. As mentioned earlier many sacrifices had to be made and this was no exception. As was the custom at the time many neighborhoods were inhabited by people of the same nationality therefore communicating was not as difficult. Though some talked to us in Italian everyone enforced the need to learn English. By the time my brother and I started school in September, we were both speaking English. The school would use us to translate for other kids that had just arrived from Italy. We like our American relatives informed them of the same indoctrination, we are in America and we need to be American.

How things have changed since we arrived in the 1954. English is slowly becoming the second language. An American identity has to have a hyphen attached to it. American pride means that you are offending someone else. To become successful you must have cheated.

I started this journey by saying that we must look to the past for answers to the present and our future. America is at a crossroad whereby all the individual factions within are slowly taring apart the very fabric of this great country. My question is Why and for What Reason?