Meant to Be

It's a small world.  A really small world.  My uncle was telling us a story about his dad (my paternal grandfather) and some kind of shooting incident.  I know you don't know my Uncle Tim but sometimes his stories wander a bit  so I don't have better details than that, but apparently my grandfather shot one of his brothers. 

Of course, I couldn't let that go so I started a little research to see what I might find out about any grand-uncles that may have been shot perhaps fatally.  My grandfather Ryan was one of  9 children.  One of his older brothers died rather early so he was my first target (oops--unfortunate choice of words).  I had his date of death so it was pretty easy to send away for a copy of the obituary.  And there was a big surprise in there for me!

As far as I knew, the Ryan boys never wandered too far away from Gloucester Massachusetts, but William Henry Ryan Jr died at his home on Madison Avenue in New York City at the age of 38!  He worked at the Ellis Island immigration station hospital--think about how interesting that must have been.  But the most interesting piece of information came at the end of the obituary--"Uncle Bill" (as I call him now) was buried at St. John's cemetery in Queens. 

St. John's cemetery is also where your great grandmother Catherine Contenta Messa is buried!!  I would never have guessed that one of my Irish ancestors would share a final resting place with your Italians before either James or I were buried.  Maybe it was always meant to be.  How scary is that?

01-01-10

Happy New Year to you all!  Doesn't the date look like some kind of computer code we used to study in Math?  2010 is going to be a big year for the Dalpiaz clan so I am glad it has begun.  I have posted this picture previously but it seemed perfect for today.  I don't know what you all were doing last night--did you have lentil soup for good luck in the new year?  Aunt Josie told me they used to have a bowl of lentil soup before the New Year's Eve meal for good luck.  We did not have lentil soup.  We had take out.  Times have changed.

Happy 35th anniversary to Robert and Bobbie!  Aunt Josie celebrated her 83rd birthday a couple of days ago.  Congratulations.  And Happy Birthday tomorrow to Kathleen.  I'll leave the numbers off this one for now...you're welcome, Kathleen.

Amy is visiting with cousin Lindsay for this New Year.  She was completely happy on a rooftop in Brooklyn last night!  Ryan went ice skating and spent time with his friends.  Today I'm cleaning.  Anyone else out there cleaning like crazy as we clean up from the holidays?  I think that's one thing that hasn't changed very much. 

James and I don't have any particular New Year traditions.  We watched Dick Clark ( James explained who Dick Clark is to Ryan's friends ) last night and were happy to see he seems much improved over last year.  He got the numbers a little mixed up on the countdown, but I don't hold that against him.  Just showing up shows great resolve on his part.

So, good luck with your resolutions if you have them.  Have a relaxing day.  2010 should be great for the Dalpiaz family!

Dalpiaz Christmas Celebration

I've been a little bit behind in my blogging recently but for good reason.  Another wonderful Christmas celebration at Robert and Bobbie's although I'm told the "Twelve Days of Christmas" rendition was a little shaky this year.  I wouldn't know.  Sounded fine to my tin ears.  We missed Monet, Jake Lindsay and Emily, Jesse and Jean!  We seem to get lots of the girl cousin pictures, here's one of the guys for something a little different.

I was very fortunate this year to receive unexpected Christmas surprises as gifts or kind words.  I have tried to learn over the years to accept such gifts graciously and to pay them forward throughout the year.  Last year, Robert shared a boxful of family pictures with me and I've tried all year long to share them with you all after doing some research.  There are so many wonderful pictures in that box that I should be able to share them throughout this coming year as well, so I hope to share some unexpected gems with you all in this upcoming year.  These have pushed me out the door to visit aunts and cemeteries (unrelated thoughts) and have some great new experiences and I can't tell you how much I appreciate this gift!

As we start the new decade (does that seem right to you?), we are also starting this blog's third year.  This week is the "blogaversary" for the Dalpiaz News and Notes.  Here's to another year and another decade.  New babies are on the way to join the tree and I can't hink of a better way to start the decade.  Cheers.

Our hearts go out to Scott and his mother today.  We are sorry for your loss.  You may feel lonely but please know you are not alone.  I haven't forgotten Linda, Brad and Drew.  Such grief can cause confusion ache but if you hold on to each other as you let go, I think you will find strength and comfort.

Say It Ain't So

Christmas season--so what else should come to mind but disillusionment? One day last week I was off campus for a day long meeting and we were on our own for lunch. I decided to treat myself to one of my favorite fast foods: Long John Silver's fish. Yes, that's my secret. Love the fish.



Well, let's just say the fish did not live up to my recollection. I stuck my fork in it and immediately thought "What was I thinking? This is horrible stuff!" Reality slapped me right in the taste buds. Such a disappointment. There goes another perception bubble popped by reality.



Tiger Woods is another example. Say it ain't so, Tiger. This is not the image I had of this man. I'm sure it's not fair to place my expectations of a good honest man with great talent on a mere human like the rest of us, but I did. That bubble burst this week also.



Long John and Tiger right out the window. I think Disney has done people like me a great favor by working so very hard to maintain the illusion (I think they might call it MAGIC). Don't we all need to maintain some magic in our lives even in the face of logic and 24/7 news?



I know Kathleen and Nick are visiting this weekend and I hope their sense of the magic of the season will be enforced by this time with little ones! Enjoy the wild ride!!!

Happy Birthday Jake! I thought you all might enjoy these pictures. I borrowed one from Jake and Lindsay's Shutterfly site. Jake is about 10 months old in his picture and Emily must be about the same in hers.

I did not realize that you couldn't double click my last post about the Love Story Double Wedding to read it. I will have to figure that out, but here's the text. I think you will enjoy.

The Albertini family and the Dalpiaz family had more in common that roots in Europe. Louis explains.

It was 1946 and I had just been discharged from the U.S. Army when my family decided to move from Hazelton PA to Long Island City to take over the operation of a local restaurant and bar. We called it Albertini's Cafe and Restaurant. To acquaint ourselves with the neighbors, we had a grand opening. It was here that the Dalpiaz family met the Albertinis.

The patriarchs of the families discovered they had something in common..they both came from the Val di Non in Tyrol, Austria (now in northern Italy). My father asked Mr. Dalpiaz if his daughters would show the Albertini sons around the neighborhood and introduce them to their friends. Rose and I hit it off right from the start. It took Thomas and Josephine a few months longer to start dating.

At a birthday party for my mon, on Jan 8 1947, Tom and I surprised the girls with engagement rings. A wedding dates was set for April 26, 1947, on my birthday. It was the first double wedding of two brothers marrying two sisters at St. Rita's R.C. Church in Ravenswood, Queens. The entire neighborhood came to witness the ceremony.

This comes from the Aug 31 1997 issue of Newsday. It was apparently submitted by Uncle Louie. I think it's a wonderful insight to the times and their love stories.

Love Story Indeed!

As you may already know, sometimes I often mindlessly wander the internet wasting time that could otherwise be used cleaning sinks or emptying garbage. I often find some very cool stuff this way. I search Dalpiaz and the most interesting stuff pops up! I'm sure many of you have seen this before, but it tells a great little story that's worth repeating.

From Newsday Aug 31 1997:

Mindless wandering is what got me the lead on this article, but it was thanks to good ole New York State that I was able to access the full article. New York State provides electronic access to a pretty good range of online databases and all you need is your drivers license number. Check it out here.

Old newspapers are nearly my favorite kind of internet resource and access to them gets better almost every day. It's a great world we live in today! I'm so glad to be one of them thar "digital immigrants" even if it felt as foreign to me at first as did American customs to our ancestors.