| I
have a lot of great memories of both my immediate and my extended
family. Growing up with Paul and Dan was always an adventure. When
we got home from school we would be out the door until we were called
for dinner….and of course most of our friends wanted to know
why we had to be home to eat with our parents (so did I at the time).
We were always having a great time with the kids in the neighborhood.
We would be playing manhunt and hiding in everyone’s garages,
running through back yards like they were our own and screaming at
the top our lungs like a bunch of maniacs. We used to build forts
all over the place….in trees, in yards and underground, one time
we actually build a fort and attached it to some guy’s garage.
I
also have lots memories of the Cino family. I remember pool parties
at the Monterosa’s and the Pisani’s. I remember huge barbecues
at the Dessino’s house. I remember digging through piles of
garbage that Uncle Steve would bring home from a junkyard that was
full of matchbox cars and handheld video games. I remember being
afraid to go anywhere near Charlie Boy’s stereo and his records…even
I knew they were off limits. I remember when Peter fell off the
dock while we were crabbing. I remember wanting to hang out with
Andrea and Salliann and a bunch of teenagers on the beach…and
they let me…until I HAD to go home for dinner that is!!!
One
of my favorite memories is from Grandma’s apartment. We used
to get very bored there. When I say we…I mean all of us. Well…most
of us in this case. If I had to implicate some others I would say
my brothers were involved, Michael, Ralphie and maybe Lisa and Missy,
Gerard, Little Peter and possibly Salliann and Andrea. Maybe there
were more or maybe it was just me and my brothers. We used to go
out on her balcony and throw things off of it. Not big things. First
I think it started with a cookie. One of us was eating one of Gram’s
"Russian Rocks" and didn’t like it, and threw it
off. We watched it drop towards the earth from what seemed like
a mile in the air and land on one of those neat checkerboard tables
that were down there. That was the beginning. After that we looked
for things to throw off the balcony. We used to go into the bathroom,
wet tissues, roll them up into little balls and fill our pockets
with them. We would have wet spots on each side of our pants from
where they seeped through. These tissues were good for throwing
because you could always see where they landed….unless it was
a white car in the parking lot to the building behind Gram’s.
We would also throw hard candies, little balls of dirt from the
plants Grandma had on her porch, half eaten cookies and anything
else we could find that wasn’t too big. It was all just fun,
we never threw anything at people and don’t think we ever dented
a car….but I’m not sure…..those Russian Rocks were
pretty hard.
|
