Another great Christmas…

Had a fun day.  Went over to my brother’s house, all the siblings and their families were there.  We ate, we drank, we played games and we watched M*A*S*H.  My favorite part of these family holidays.

The presents were minimal (for the adults).  We each brought one small gift and then did the white-elephant pick a gift or steal a gift thing.  I ended up with a small tool kit for the Jeep, and a ton of AA batteries, both things that I can definitely use.

My sister-in-law gave me this shirt that she made for me (she also made the graphics on my Jeep).  Not only is it hilarious, but it’s also fitting for me.

Old family story.

I saw this on Facebook today:

and I had to laugh.  I don’t know if it’s made up or not, but I tend to believe it’s true.  And, like I said on Facebook, if my Grandma Ida were alive today, it could have been her.

Why do I say that?  Because of an old family story that I know is true.  My mother wouldn’t lie to me, and if you knew my Grandma Ida, you’d believe it too.

My mom grew up in Harlem, NYC, in the 40’s.  One day my grandmother came home to their apartment building and saw an elderly man berating an 8 year-old girl because she was playing with a black boy in the lobby.  He was appalled that she had let “that boy” in their building.

My grandmother, who was a lot of things, but shy and demure were not two of them.  She told him to shut the hell up and leave those kids alone.  An argument ensued in which they “debated” the benefits and problems with inter-racial friendships.  Finally the man got fed up with arguing and told her “You wouldn’t think that if that was your daughter!”

My grandmother pulled herself up to her  full 5’2” and told him “That is my daughter.”

If there had been a fly swatter in her hand, I have no doubt she would have hit him with it right then.

Mistaken Identity

The kids in 1st period know that my dad is a math professor and they think his name  is, as they put it, “a really sic name.”  One of my students asked me today if I would print off a picture of Hugo so he could use it for an art project, and while I was looking for a good one I showed them a few old family photos.  This one is of my great-grandparents.

When I put the picture on the screen one of the students called out “Didn’t they pose for that picture with the pitchfork?”

(courtesy of Wikipedia.com)

Uh, not quite, but the fact that this 12 year old was even aware of this famous painting was surprising enough.

Happiness is…

The family I grew up in,

and what it’s grown into.
(No picture for this one, I couldn’t find one that includes everyone).

My house.

Teaching (80% of the time).

And all of the great people I have worked with in the schools I’ve been at, a lot of whom I still get together with.  (Again, no picture, don’t have one that includes everyone)

My cars.

The two new cats. “The Ranch”, as we call it.

And all the people in my life who have, and continue to make me laugh.

Pool table spelunking.

… Thanksgiving.  What a great day.  Spent it with the family, ate a lot of good food, had a couple really good heart-to-heart conversations with the next generation, watched “Uncle Buck” and played Clue.  Both my brothers were there, my sister, almost all the nieces and nephews and their kids. 

… At one point my older brother was downstairs playing with all the kids, and somehow a little soccer ball, a little bit smaller than a pool ball, got lost inside the pool table.  The first any of us upstairs heard of it, my older brother had my younger brother’s 8 year old completely inside the table, crawling around looking for the soccer ball.  My 6 year old grand-nephew was trying to climb in the other side of the table to help.  It was hilarious.  I don’t think they ever got the ball,  but at least nobody got stuck in there.

… All in all an excellent day, as any time with my family is.  I love you guys, wouldn’t trade any of you for anything.

Old Picture #467-32D4

… Ok, so my older brother scanned a bunch of old family pictures and sent them out to everyone, so of course at least one had to end up on here.  Why this one?, you may ask.  Look in the background.  Looks a lot like one of the cars I own now.  As a matter of fact, it’s a 1969 Ford Galaxie 4 door hardtop, basically the same car as Old Blue.  Same year and same color as the first LTD I ever owned.  So, of course it caught my eye.

… Even more than the car this picture makes me think of my great-uncle Arno, who was your basic funny guy.  You couldn’t pass a cemetery without him saying “You know, people are just dying to get in there.”  He always had a joke, and he always had a song.  It was either “C’mon Baby Light My Fire” or “Someone Left the Cake out in the Rain”, but in my memory if he wasn’t joking around he was singing one of those songs.  Him and my great-aunt Alba, we loved going to their house because you’d always laugh your butt off.

…That’s Arno on the left, my grandfather in the middle and I think that’s my mother’s shoulder on the right.

What a drag it is getting old…

---- The summer before last we went back to Boston to the annual family picnic.  It was a big occasion since my Great-Aunt Grace had just turned 100, and I hadn’t been back in quite a while. I took this picture at the dinner, it’s of the 3 remaining siblings of the 12 that included my grandmother.  On the left is Grace, in the middle is Uncle Dickie and on the right is Alba. 

---- Dickie passed away last year. I got an email last week informing me that Alba had just passed away, and today I found out Grace is gone too.  It saddens my heart that this dynamic, funny and loving group of siblings is gone.  I have people tell me all the time that I’m a funny guy and I’ve often heard “where do you come up with this stuff?”  I don’t know, it just pops into my head, but I have no doubt that these people influenced my sense of humor. 

---- My grandmother, the oldest of the siblings, passed away sometime in the 90’s, and her funeral is a perfect example of how these siblings lived.  We were at a funeral home that had a second service going on in a room next to my grandmother’s.  I’m standing out in the lobby, the other room is silent, nothing other than soft music emanating from the room.  On the other side, where her sisters were, laughter is coming out.  I walk in, listen for a little and realize what is going on.  Her sisters are telling “Nonni’s favorite dirty jokes” to each other.   I can’t remember any of them, but that scene made me proud to be a part of this family.

---- I’ll be honest with ya, I’m feeling a little old right now.  I’m creeping up on the age my mother was when she passed away and I’ve just lost a whole level of my ancestors.  On the other hand, I’m feeling way too young to be this close to being the oldest generation in my family.  I know it’s a few years away, my dad is in great health and has the genes to last another 25 years.

---- Well, that was headed in a really depressing direction, it’s probably time to cut it off.  And I’ll get up at 6 tomorrow morning to head off and face classrooms full of 13 to 15 year olds and realize I can’t be too old, after all, I can still relate to them.

Old Picture of the Day

My oldest neices and nephew, this picture was taken at their parent's second wedding. Half of the birthdays this month belong to these 3 and this is long enough ago that they are all married and parents of their own 2 children. Time flies way too fast.

Old Photo of the Day.....

Yeah, begs to ask Why the hell would I post such an unflattering picture? or maybe What was I doing wearing pants that short?  Well, it was sometime around 1990, by the ages of my nieces and nephew.  Maybe earlier.  If I recognize the background, this was taken on an old bridge on the road between Capitol Reef and Hanksville, headed towards Lake Powell.  The back row is my older brother and myself. The next row is my older brother's wife, his oldest daughter and the two Gearheads. In front is the only other niece I had at the time and my nephew (who happens to be Naptime Nostalgia's husband now). Some pictures should never see the day of light.  But it has such pretty colors.

Old Picture of the day.

This must have been taken sometime in 1980, by the size of my older brother's family.

• Back row - left to right - My mother, my dad's father, my little brother, my dad's mother and her sister.
• Middle row - my sister, my older brother with his son on his knee and my dad.
• Front row - me, my sister-in-law and right in front of her my oldest neice.

Rossi Family Picnic

Family picnic went off well, food was great, family was great. Well, except for poor Landon who wasn't feeling very well. If ya wanna see the pictures click HERE, and hopefully we'll be doing this again next year.

1st Annual Rocky Mountain Region Rossi Family Picnic

Do you know how hard it is to find a picture of just Alex, me, Lisa and Danny? I wanted an old picture of the family for this post, sans the people who have passed away (since they won't be there this afternoon), and immediately knew that was going to be impossible. So, I decided to cull through my many family pictures in an attempt to at least get me and the 3 siblings I grew up with. Me, Lisa and Alex. Me, Lisa and Danny. Me, Danny and Alex. Just me and Alex. Just me and Danny. Just me and Lisa. Just me. Just Alex. Just Lisa. Just Danny. You got the idea 5 sentences ago. Anyway, in a second I'm headed out to an undisclosed park to join in some festivities with the family. We are sad that Jeff & Amy & Co. will not be there, and parts of other groups will also be absent, and missed. But, we'll make the best of it, and still have a hell of a good time. (Especially since Dad's cooking!) See ya all there......