Designer

……………….I want to wish my nephew and GODSON…..a very late, but none the less a HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!!!!………..He was born on March 26th…..53 years ago……..HOLEY COW!!!!!! That makes me 53 years older too……..I was 23 when he was born, and had  just started working at Anne Klein……SOOOOOO many years ago!………….Happy Birthday Chris!

………………….Every Spring it has become a ritual to plant pots of PANSIES……Jac did it every spring. She LOVED pansies, but they had to have “FACIES”……When the pansy season over, and the pots of pansies had to be replaced with “summer” flowers…..I had to make sure Franco came on a day to dump the pansies when Jac wasn’t home. She kept them until the last second………..So……..it’s now “PANSY TIME” once again…..Franco, my landscaper and all around jack of all trades, and I went to SAM BRIDGES in Greenwich, Ct……They are a terrific nursery, and have the most wonderful trees, plants, bushes, flowers etc etc. etc…….One of the many green houses is full with pansies and violas…..rows and rows and rows of flats…..We found a section that had trays of MIXED colors….ALL WITH FACES! so we bought 8 trays of pansies and bags of potting soil…..and back home we went!

…………………Once Franco and I got back to my home….it was time to unload the truck…..set up the empty pots where I wanted them placed on the brick patio……..and GET TO PLANTING!…….Now the patio is full of pots filled with PANSIES……I know Jac is happy!

………………..Today, March 30th, is my brother John Daniel’s birthday……..He would have been 82 years old today………That’s us standing in front of our home in Elmont Long Island where we grew up…..All three of us boys, my brothers Mauro and John, who was the middle child, and me were born in Brooklyn, NY and moved to Long Island in 1951 when I was three years old. I was probably six in this picture…..John and I shared a bedroom until he moved to Florida for college….John was on every sports team in school and was the captain for most of them…..He played every sport except football….only because my parents would not sign the paper allowing him to play. My mom, rightly so, thought it was too dangerous! My brother was a natty dresser and always had great style……note his sleeves ROLLED UP! and his pleated trousers!! He used to leave the house early in the mornings for practice, and I would raid his draws and wear his beautiful sweaters. Since he was a senior and I was a freshman, we were on two different sides of the high school building, and he never knew I was wearing his clothes! I would get home before him, as he was at yet another practice, and neatly folded his sweaters and place them back into his draw…..He never knew until years later when I confessed that I wore them! At that point all he could do was laugh. He had a great laugh, and was the only one of us to have the best dimples!….He was a sweet kind hearted soul at 6’2″……He became a physical education teacher in Garden City Long Island, at the Garden City High School where he lived. He coached many teams, but I think his favorite was the girl’s basketball team…..They were CHAMPIONS season after season, and the girls adored him…..Where ever we went these young girls would come up to him, with stars in their eyes, and say “HELLO MR. D!”……My brother was a handsome devil! He used to have the best THICKEST hair, and when he started to loose it…it really upset him…..He was a “COMB OVER” guy, and tried to cover his bald spots….until one day his three sons convinced him it was fruitless, and had him cut it off. He was a very handsome bald guy, and always had that winning smile and laugh!…..He was the Dad of four children, and a grandfather…..all loved him……My brother passed away Feb.22, 2019, of cancer….It was very quick….a matter of weeks after it was found out……The world is definitely a lesser and sadder place without him….All that knew him LOVED him……….I LOVE HIM very much, and miss him, and his sweet mild soft voice and the twinkle in his eyes………….Happy Birthday in Heaven my dear brother……I hope you and Jac are celebrating together………….Until we meet again, and I can “borrow” some of your heavenly sweaters!!!