At the age of 1 he mumbled his first word..."Fugetaboutit".
At age 2 he surprised his parents when he paid cash for his first custom tailored white on white suit.
At age 8 he was running the tri-state bachi and softball tournaments, and prided himself on knowing every Italian restaurant on the south shore.
Ages 10 - 22 I could tell you about, but I'd have to kill you.
When someone said "I know a guy", it was him. This was the guy who could get boxes of the coolest Christmas toys no-one could get their hands on. Casinos welcomed him with double cheek kisses. When I got married he showed up to our house with a massive box of fancy china, no explanation of how he got it, or where it came from. We ate in restaurants with no menus where you could literally order anything, and it was always perfect. He knew everyone, and they all loved him.
You are probably thinking Sopranos? Yeah, your close, but he was cooler.
About 70 years ago a stork dropped of a terrific little baby boy. There was only one name fitting for this child. You knew him as Rocky. We knew him as Grandpa.
Grandpa was the most kind person you could meet. He was the type of person who loved watching the three stooges, and would go out of his way to adopt stray kittens. The only thing larger than his personality or smile, was his heart.
He had the patience of a champion. I remember making him watch me play a computer game because I wanted to show him how "great the graphics were". 25 minutes into watching me play he finally asked "what are graphics"?
It wasn't until later in life when I truly understood how magical he made our childhood. For years Santa would visit our house by landing on the roof and jumping on the deck to wish us a Merry Christmas. It was unbelievable that every year Grandpa was in the bathroom and missed seeing him! I never got to tell him how special that was.
I wish I could give him one last hug.
Grandpa will be missed.... but forgotten? Fugetaboutit.
What a guy - you are a very lucky grandson. I hope you pass those stories and many more onto your children. You were blessed.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I will risk a deadly demise - just to hear a few of the tales from the 10 to 21 age years.