The one house activity that was almost as common as sauce creation was card playing. The four parents played thousands of hands over the years. Boy, Sal got really mad at any advice coming from the kids... "Hey!!! No kibitzing!!!" That's vintage Salvatore Mazza, right there.
We ended up moving away to Maine when I entered high school and I kind of lost track of the family. I hadn't seen Sal for many years until the family put on a party/reunion for family matriarch Anna. Maybe, because I'd grown up and experienced a few things, I realized that there was a lot of warmth underneath that gruff exterior. The big personality had been replaced by a big heart.
Sal passed away this week at the age of 78. While I know that the buildings and geography of my childhood are only grand in memory, I choose to remember Sal as that loud, boisterous, spirit who scared the crap outta me when I was eight years old.
"Hey!! No kibitzing!!!!!!!"
Article comments
1 - A.L. Harper
This is a beautiful and touching article Mark. It made me cry. Thank you.
2 - Connie Phillips
Mark, What a beautiful tribute to some one who sounds like an he was an incredible man. I'm sorry for your loss.
3 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
I was just a bit disappointed by the article, Mark. I thought I was going to get a link to Dean Martin singing Amore.
But your article was especially well written and made me think of how my sons must see the world around them. They were less than nipple high when we moved here in 2001, having to make the change from a three-story ten room house in Saint Paul to a two room apartment in an absorption center in southern Jerusalem. We live in a house again, but nothing like the cinderblock structure we sold in 2001. Now they are taller than both of us (not really that great of an accomplishment - neither of us are tall).
Just like you miss your godfather, my boys miss their grandfather, who used to come over each weekend for coffee and cake, bringing jokes, riddles and his punny sense of humor. And the world must see a lot smaller to them now then it did then; I know I probably seem smaller now.
The oldest one has been rejected for the IDF - the younger one just got his first notice from them....
Enjoy the link. May your godfather rest in peace.
Shabbat Shalom,
Reuven
4 - Pico
Ahh, the images this conjures up. ;&)
RIP, Sal.
5 - jp
you did a terrific job mark
6 - Mat Brewster
That was nice Mark. RIP Sal.
7 - Mary K. Williams
I'm sorry I missed this when you first wrote it. Very nice.