05/31/2026
46 years ago today, my parents got married.
Their love story is one of the great inspirations of my life. Someday I’ll have to tell the whole story properly, because it deserves more than one post.
But today, on their anniversary, I keep thinking about the two greatest gifts they gave me.
The first was the way they exposed me to the world. They traveled with me from a young age, showed me different places, different people, different cultures, and raised me without prejudice. Growing up, I heard plenty of gossip about the neighbors, we're Italian after all. But I never heard them speak with racial prejudice, cultural prejudice, or judgment toward people simply because of who they were, where they came from, or how they lived. That was remarkable.
The second gift was that they taught me not to take life too seriously. To laugh. To find humor. To be ready to smile even in the most difficult, ridiculous, or tragic moments. That spirit has carried me through so much.
Those two gifts have been guiding lights in my life.
Happy anniversary, Mamma e Papà. I love you, and I never forget where those gifts came from.
