Designer

……………………….Parents make sure your children UNDERSTAND the importance of INTEGRITY, so they don’t grow up to be LINDSEY GRAHAM.

………..With Father’s Day only a week away I thought i would post this early picture of my Dad and his Dad……….This picture of my father and his dad, my grand dad, was taken for my father’s Communion……so I would imagine he is about 10 or 11……I love that they took these formal pictures!…..My dad was the first born, and the apple of my grandfather’s eye. After my dad was born there were four girls before another son, my uncle Louie, came along. So, my father was the only boy for many years. I have to say he didn’t change much from what he looked like as a boy to an adult……I LOVE the way my dad is dressed with his long frock coat, and his shiny high lace up shoes……My grand father didn’t speak much English, but he showed his love for all of his grandchildren in many ways. He always had a box of Chicklets in his pockets or us, and  gave the best hugs!….He played the guitar and sang Italian songs to us….He made his own wine in a “special room” in the basement of his house, and grew his own grapes on his property…..He also had a small hobby room in the basement where he made these amazing ship models….He made these glass cases and created scenes in them with fake water and backdrops where he displayed his boats….I used to love to go into this locked room and see all of his treasures…..I don’t know whatever happened to them……My dad was an alter boy in his local church!!!! He told me he used to play craps behind the church with two priests!….Some alter boy!!! My dad was somewhat of a hellion in his youth. He and his friends all had nicknames. My dad was called “Jimmy clink”, because he was arrested for being drunk with his friends……When the police came to my grandfather’s house to tell him my father had been arrested, and he could come and pick him up my grandfather told the policeman to keep him overnight!…..History repeated itself when my oldest brother and his friends got arrested for drag racing……When the police came to our door and told my dad he could come down to the station and get my brother ….my father told them to keep him over night! A lesson learned.

…………………….When I was designing at Anne Klein I went out almost every night. There was always some event or party taking place that I had to show up for. Sometimes it was a matter of just showing my face, saying hello to whoever was throwing the party or who the event was for, and then making a quiet exit! Many times I went out to dinner with a group of friends or the theater or a club…….I was always busy and never at home…..Even when I was with Jac we often were out and about……..I am guessing this photo was taken by one of the paparazzi, and the photo was sent to my office……Where I was going I have no idea……I always had my sunglasses on day or night……I still do…..Some habits are hard to break!

………………..As I am waiting for the smoke to clear from the Canadian fires, and I find myself confined to my house i have been reminiscing about stories my Mom told me……….My Mom saved many pictures of her and her girlfriends…..these are just a very few. Her friends meant everything to her, and I remember two of them very well. Even though we weren’t related I always new them as Aunt Nardi and Aunt Sadie…..Only when I was older did I realize we weren’t really related….I even called their husbands Uncle Armond [Nardi’s husband] and Uncle Bubby [Sadie’s husband]…….In the photo bottom left photo of the girls on a country road my Mom is at the front left of the picture and Nardi is standing behind her…..Sadie is in the front on the right in the bias plaid top. The other bottom pictures are of my Mom with Aunt Nardi…..In the bathing suit picture my Mom is at the extreme left and Aunt Nardi is second in from the right…….One of my FAVORITE pictures of my mom is of her laying on the grass. She’s in front, Sadie is in the back and another friend  Vannie is in the middle……MY MOM’S SMILE IS EVERYTHING!!!! The girls were as they say thick as thieves, and  always got together and went on vacations every summer leaving the guys behind…..I don’t think any of them had marriage on their minds until my Aunt Nardi married my Uncle Armond. My mother was her Maid of Honor….Then they started to fall like dominos……Then my mother got married and Aunt Nardi and Uncle Armond were their Matron of Honor and Best Man…..The tight knit group was breaking up, and soon all of them were getting married……When my parents moved from Brooklyn to Long Island my Mom left her girl friends behind….that was very hard for her and them…..Children came , and their lives became complicated…..,so different from their carefree days as young women…..My Mom saw less and less of them……For my parents 50th wedding anniversary my brother Mauro and I sent my parents for 10 days to Hawaii…..Aunt Nardi and Uncle Armond went with them. I know my Mom was the happiest I has seen her in a long time to be spending time with her BFF  and closest confident Aunt Nardi…….Tragically, Aunt Nardi had found out she had cancer before the trip, but she insisted on going even though she wasn’t feeling well…..My Mom happily took care of her , and made sure she had a good time… She passed away a few months after their return……..When my Mom was in her 90s she asked me “Lou, why am I  still here, all of my girlfriend are gone”. How do you answer a question like that? I understood her perfectly…….I could only reply….”Mom you still have us, your grandchildren and Dad”……..but it just wasn’t the same…..The friendships and memories of the best years of her life were very dear to her……Now, as I get older so many of my friends are gone, and Jac is gone……I know how she felt…………….Sometimes it’s worse to be the last one standing.

……………………..My Mother was 27 when she got married, and in those days that was considered late….but my Mom lived her life and had fun with her friends along the way….They were very liberated women of their times, and wanted to have fun. “The Girls” vacationed together, went to clubs and partied together…..However, she also had a boyfriend…..that was not my father…..His name was Marco…..My Mom and I used to sit, and she would pull out her boxes of photos to show me. She wanted to share her life with me to let me know she had a LIFE before she married my Dad…….She told me all about Marco the man she almost married….. Marco had dark blond hair and blue eyes, and was very handsome. She truly thought she was going to marry him…..Then it happened…..She went away for a weekend with Marco, her best girlfriend and her girlfriend’s boyfriend at the time. The photo at the right is of Marco. The photo at the left is the four of them. My Mom is in the back standing on the car…[fabulous car]…..She said all was going well…They were having a good time…..There were lots of cats roaming around the property…..One afternoon Marco picked one up swung it around by its’ tail and flung it into the air……My Mom was horrified….She told me as soon as they got home she broke up with him, because she realized in that moment if he could treat a defenseless animal like that how would he treat her, and their children once they were married…..I asked her why she kept these pictures. She replied……”to always remind me of the mistake I almost made”. She said “you really have to know someone before you spend the rest of your life together”………Of course I was very happy she didn’t marry him! If she had I wouldn’t be here to tell the tale!!