The Family Legacy
Dear Grandchildren
Your parents thought that it would be a great idea to put in black and white my memories of our great family and all my life adventures and experiences. And so, who am I to differ? I am 72 years of age, and am lucky to be blooming with good spirits and health. I believe there are still many beautiful years of great memories ahead of me, especially spending them with our beautiful family.
This is a great time to reflect on my life and also scrutinize what I want to leave behind for you guys. This legacy letter culminates pieces of our family heritage, my history, and my unique stories, which will help to demonstrate life lessons and also the values I hold dearly. A lot of which is going to be shared am entirely sure will not be a new thing to you guys, but perhaps it will be of great help in reinforcing our family principles. I desire that this letter will guide you and your future generations to come during challenging times in your lives.
My paternal grandparents and I never met, this because they emigrated from here to Italy. My grandfather was a very hardworking carpenter, and my grandmother was a dedicated homemaker. They both passed away before I was born. My father was the youngest of the five children (3brothers and two sisters). They moved to a house in New York City where they were raised. I have some thrilling memories of our siblings coming together for the annual Thanksgiving Celebration that would last for many days. Fifteen to twenty people slept on the floor, dispersed in every niche throughout the house. My dad was a low-risk taker person who was soft-spoken and mild-mannered. He was a very active church member. My father was not the kind of person who usually roamed around the house, and I recall him sitting in the living room in his black reclining chair next to the front door. When any visitor would ring the doorbell, he leaned and opened the door. Even though my father was a tranquil and private person, he used to share his opinions with me. He used to tell me to help out around the house with chores. He also made important decisions for me, for instance, like where I was going to college and high school and left the other wearisome choices to my mother. My father viewed himself as the provider and protector of the family.
Faye was my mother’s nickname, and she also was the youngest of their seven siblings (three sisters and four brothers). Surprisingly my mom was completely contrary to my father’s personality. She loved being the center of attention every moment; she loved smiling all the time. She was our bundle of happiness and joy. My parents attended the same schools and even the same church where they eventually got married. In our family, no one managed to go past high school until I was lucky to get an opportunity to attend college. My father passed on while I was only 36 years of age, and our relationship was always a good one the same with my brother Michael, whom I spent a lot of hours tutoring him. Mum’s relationship with me was a very close one, and i was super lucky to have her for most of my life.
It was until I reached the age of 28 that I got married and lived in my parents’ house where my life adventures began. My mother had an enormous impact on me, principally in the modeling of my personality. I recall her saying, “John, always make the right choices. Do the right thing, and never worry about what people think.”
I wish I could have managed to grasp not caring about what others thought of me, but my notoriety, what people think of me, is very censorious for my sense of well-being. As you know, I am the kind of person who loves family above all. Family is always first: then others come second. Getting to spend time with family has always been a very critical and foremost thing for me. If it were possible for me to twine all the memories I had while growing up, I could make a beautiful necklace in the world. My greatest minds occurred during birthday celebrations, summer outings, and holidays. I always get a broad smile when I think about the family outings we used to have in New Jersey. Our family would gather for several days in the beautiful countryside. These family outings I believe, influenced my appetite in wanting to create magical outings for our family. For over 30 years, we toured the Bahamas, which made our family grow closer because of that experience. Like my grandchildren, I would like you to uphold this tradition and even make your own experience better than how ours was. You will be able to share the small treasures that thrilled you as you grow up.
I was taught the importance of having family unity by my parents through the choices and behaviors they had in their lives. Till today, my heart is filled with pure love and concern for each other person in our family; hence, I am informing you of this. That’s what made our family work. Because no one is perfect, we used to have disagreements and arguments in our family too. Still, knowing the importance of family, we used to keep lines of communication open and sort out our issues. Getting support from family can make a massive difference during trying moments in life.
I came from a family with limited resources; my parents did not have enough funds to take me to college, but I am very grateful to the Christian brothers for giving me a full scholarship in college. Experiences in college were pivotal in modeling my career path. I was a student leader in college, which helped a lot in gathering leadership skills. Moreover, running and becoming the student council president were more significant challenges for me, which I managed to conquer fearlessly. I never give a cold ear to an opportunity that can help me grow as a person.
My life has always revolved around family, its heaven on earth being your grandfather. You guys are the center of my universe. I want you guys to know how much I love you, and I love how close we are to each other. Despite my shortcomings, I wish that you will always remember as a person who cared for others. I want to know that the moment I walk away, people will feel good and say,” he was a lovely guy.” My prayers are with you, and we all continue with good health for more years of joy and good memories ahead and that you may become happy in life with each day passing.
I love you guys so much. Grandfather
Reference
Zwerdling, A. (2003). Mastering the memoir: Woolf and the family legacy. Modernism/modernity, 10(1), 165-188.
Curtis, B. (Ed.). (2011). The Legacy Letters. Penguin.
Corcoran, W. W. (1879). A Grandfather’s Legacy: Containing a Sketch of His Life and Obituary Notices of Some Members of His Family, Together with Letters from His Friends. H. Polkinhorn, printer.