re: Tell Me About your Dad

My father died in 2019, he was a week shy of his 92nd birthday. He was a hard-working, unassuming family man. He immigrated here from Italy as a young boy. Outside of his family, my father was most proud of becoming a U.S. citizen and serving his new country by fighting in Korea. My father made sure we promised him that he would be buried in a National Cemetary, with military honors.

One of the greatest times of my life was when my father came to live with us in 2017. My mother had just passed (from a 7-year battle with Alzheimer's) when my father lost all his/their worldly possessions and home in the Tubbs Fire (Santa Rosa, Ca.). While he was with us, we took walks every day and talked about everything from what it was like living in the "old country", to coming to America, and fighting in Korea. I felt blessed being able to just take him to go get his haircuts and to church. He admitted to me that he was far more scared the night of the fire, watching everything around him burning than he was during any firefight he had in Korea. There isn't an hour that goes by that I don't miss him.