The Squad (As My Father Likes To Say)

In 1950, my father Peter (Pietro), uncle Stefano, and grandmother Lorenzina traveled to Sicily from Brooklyn for a 3-month visit. The five cousins standing on this hill overlooking Porticello and Bagheria–Pietro, Stefano, Franco, Pietro, and Mimmo–bonded that summer. I’m fortunate to have met them all. What a gang! Have you met your relatives in the…

A Kid in a Pastry Shop

A kid in a pastry shop–better than a candy story, I think. A little nostalgia for today: my dad’s birthday–and in anticipation of Father’s Day (US) on Sunday. Here’s my father Peter at 8 years old in Bagheria at my great uncle’s pasticerria Bar Aurora. Written on the back of the photograph, my uncle Stefano…