Good morning everyone, today is Thursday April 8, 2021.the weather is beautiful once again , so we need to enjoy it because the prediction is for wet weather for the next several days.

There are four words in the English language that most of us love, or would give anything to hear “ Did you lose weight ” I myself being the first in line to hear that. Now I have talked about this affliction before and many of you have suffered weight problems yourself. But to know me, you know this has plagued me literally all my life. So those four words were the best compliment I could ever receive. As in the case yesterday , I went to two stores I often frequent and the minute I walked in both owners gave me the compliment, believe me I appreciated more than anything. The second store the man asked how did you lose weight I told him a snip it of my story. It is no secret that I had Baristric Surgery but he proceeded to tell me about his adventure with the surgery, it almost mirrored my story. At a time I came to realize I had to have this surgery or I would no longer be here and that is not an exaggeration, eventually the body cannot take it. So this was a last option. After dieting for over 60 years and everything else to no avail. However, if there was a complication I got , so did this gentleman. After about10 years and multiple surgeries later I got the results I wanted but it also left me with many other problems that are bearable. I guess what I am trying to say is many people feel this is an easy fix that is is nothing that is the farthest thing from the truth. This is major surgery.

Now we still live in a society, where looking good is still a very important thing. Over the years that has changed quite a bit . Today being healthy is also very important, with gym membership
at an all time high. Even famous chefs today are writing books on healthy eating. I guess with all the bad things we have put in our food, we are seeing the effects and starting to eat clean.

So at this age I still love those four words but they are not as important as they once were. Today, I thank god I’m still here with the skills of many doctors., and being healthy is really the most important thing. Maybe I can be a centigenarian. So you will be stuck with the likes of me for years to come.

Remember, enjoy this beautiful day find something to make you happy. So for now Ciao, see I’m learning. Til Tomorrow!

Good morning friends and everyone aboard . Today is Saturday, April 3, 2021. It is a chilly start but reach into the fifties later on. Today is know as Holy Saturday it is a day of waiting. 2000 years ago they waited for Jesus to rise and become king of Israel. He did rise however but not as a physical king. He rose to show the world he was the son of god and give us everlasting life for all that followed him, or basically all humanity. We have been following him for over 2000 years now and will follow for ions to come. I wish I could be here that long unfortunately at some point I will join him in heaven and enjoy ever lasting life. A little maudlin there and today I want to be happy as I prepare for the Ressurection tomorrow.

Easter has always been very special to me, sometimes I believe even more so than Christmas. I think being Italian has something to do with it in my case, I know everyone has traditions and I love hearing about them and tasting them all but I grew up Italian so those traditions are very special to me. Now Easter is an eating holiday and the preparations take days. The sad part as I have mentioned before was you could not eat any of it til after 12 o’ clock today or tomorrow. My mother insisted on Easter, I am not that rigid because I can’t wait. We make pies not Apple or blueberry but sweet pie with ricotta cheese, and wheat pie and cookies and tarrallis , and lamb cakes ,sweet a cake not meat. But the mother of them all is Pizzagaina, this ias a pie filled with many cheeses and meats ( Italian cold cuts) salami, pepperoni , procutto, capiclole, supperisatta, eggs anthis is all baked in a special crust. This is usually made on Good Friday as a sign of sacrifice because you couldn’t eat the meat. The pie is made all over Italy so there is no one recipe to follow it follows wherever you came from. It is I believe from the area around Naples. Now I made this every year with my grandmother and my parents, yes my father even kicked in on this one. It was made in a special bowl big enough to hold all the filling, it was white with green trim and oddly had an Asian motif inside. I don’t know what happened to that bowl when my mother died. Marylou used to make it with her aunt who was like a grandmother to her every year. So we both had knowledge of how to make it. When everyone passed we said to each other now what? Of course we knew Justin and Amanda had to become familiar with this tradition and it was our job to do it. So we set out to make our own, so there is a little of her family and a little of mine and we created our own. Isn’t that what marriage is all about . So we have been making it for over 30 years, Easter would not be Easter without it. I’m sure many of you will agree with that. I will post a picture of our masterpiece later before it is cut. My favorite sweet pie is the Wheat Pie but that is another story. I have already taken a lot of your time today. Plus I have a lot to do.

Be happy today, just my preparations will bring me joy. If you don’t know what to do or don’t celebrate boil an egg and dye it believe it or not it is fun and brings some traditions with it. No dye boil an onion skin and then dip the egg , look at like a child and you will be happy for awhile. We will talk again Til Tomorrow!

Good morning everyone, today is Thursday April 1, 2021. Another month has gone by the wayside and a bright new one is here. I guess March left us true to form like a lamb, yes a little damp but mild. So we have a new month and spring is popping up all around us. My Easter preparations are almost complete and now the baking begins. When I was young my mother, grandmother , and cousin Marie would bake for days prior to Easter. I wasn’t even allowed to walk through the kitchen I had to go around the house to get to the tv room. The sad part was I could touch nothing or eat a morsel of all they baked til Easter Sunday. That’s pretty hard for a kid, but I was quickly taught that’s what fasting means.

Now today is Holy Thursday, this whole week is considered holy by the Catholic Church but to me the events that will take place for the next 4 days are the basis of my religion, it shows us what faith is all about. So I will ask you to bear with me for the next few days because it is something very important to me. Today Holy Thursday Jesus ate his Last Supper, the Seder meal, in this meal he instituted the sacrament of Holy Eucharist really to me the most important part of my religion where I share my life with him. On my worst days in the hospital when I was not allowed to eat or drink only a sip of water I asked the doctors if I could receive communion, they agreed and everyday I woud take communion but it had to dissolve in my mouth, I feel Jesus sustained me during those times. He also instituted the priesthood that night. He foretold what would happen to him in the future days. He washed the feet of the apostles as a sign of humility a practice that still goes on in church today. My uncle was blessed one year when he was the recipient of this blessing. I think that that was one of his happiest days. He told me many times how blessed he felt. I could go on and on about the event of Holy Thursday but I don’t want to turn you completely off. There is one custom a fun one actually where you visit three churches tonight and Marylou and I when we were dating had great fun doing that. We always had a group to join us, her mother, her aunt , her cousin it was like a party but we enjoyed it.

Now today, enjoy whatever you do. I will try to myself. I know we are all busy now but take a minute to thank god for all we have , no matter what religion you practice there is someone you can thank for giving us everyday. We will talk again. Til Tomorrow!