so lets talk Fathers. Dad is now 93 years old. he became a Dad On February 12, 1947 with the birth of my elder brother Joseph.
My visual remembrance of Dad is his wearing of blue work clothes. His name, JOE, was embroidered on his right pocket. The name of his employer, McGrottey Chevrolet, was embroidered on the left. Part of his "uniform" was that he wore a "garrison belt" a wide black belt. The attempt to unloosen the belt was always a sign that you have transgressed some boundary. I don't recall the belt ever coming off, but it was a threatening act. Dad finished grade school and came of age during the Depression. He shone shoes to earn money. He was a hardworking auto mechanic for all his life. He would come home from his regular job and then work in our garage doing "side jobs" until late in the night. Dad was not a hands on Dad but he was provider. He managed to raise the five of us.
Dad's dad, my grandfather Donato, was an Italian veteran of the First World war. He and my grandmother emigrated to the US when my Dad was only three months old. He is listed as a shoemaker on his emigration documents. He was an emotionally distant grandfather, probably because he suffered from being "shell shocked" during the war.
Mom's Dad , Giuseppe, is remembered as having the shakes (parkinson disease). In spite of his tremors he shaved everyday with a straight razor. He drank his coffee out of a bowl dunking day old bread. He made his own wine and tenderly cared for his fig tree.
Both Giuseppe Paladino and Donato Laurita were part of our lives but not in any "intimate" way.
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