Focused at Fifty

***Blogger's note: I have changed the names of the individuals and some of the places discussed below for privacy. Pic courtesy of Firstnetsource.com The other evening I stopped at my local firehouse social club, the hosey, to meet my friend Sue for a beer. A lot of my neighbors and friends head down there on Wednesday nights for drinks, games, and fun. I figured I'd join them for one beer, maybe two, maybe two and a shot of Fireball. You get the idea. I had just walked in and who did I see across the bar but my friends Dan Myers and his wife Louise. I hadn't seen them in a couple of years since they had moved west to Missouri. I had gotten to know them fairly well when I was bartending at the hosey a while back. They lived around the corner from me and then moved out west for work after Dan had spent month after month job hunting in our economically depressed county. He finally gave up and went where the work was after no success up in this area. I went over,...

Much of what I write about is for my brother and sister. The blog has become sort of a written record of my family's history. My father has often forwarded family photographs, scrapbooks, heirlooms, and anecdotes my way and it was he who dubbed me the official family historian. I feel a sense of duty to my family since Mom passed away, to remember and record these memories, whether snippets or lengthy stories. My blog has become an easy way to share my family history with not only them, but also extended family and friends.  I find my cousins and close friends having "Aha!" moments when they rediscover past memories. My memories of Nana (Nanny) and Grandpop (my Mother's parents) extend from approximately 1973 through my Grandpop's passing in 1976 to Nana's subsequent passing two years later.   They lived at 22 Endwell Lane in Willingboro, New Jersey, in a one story rancher built in 1967. It's still there today. One funny memory was that my Nanny insis...

Guanciale OK, OK I have to say it and it's a bit sacrilegious, but this Jewish guy likes bacon. and furthermore, I like most pork products! I'd say my Jewish mother Abby may be rolling over in her grave but I know she isn't. She once told me she could eat bacon and not feel guilty because it was sooo good AND it didn't look like a pig. What??? LOL. OK Mom. And I am my Mother's child because I now use that same justification! :) For John's birthday back in November, I decided to get him a huge cheese box from DiBruno Brothers on Chestnut Street in Philly filled with his favorite Italian foods and some new ones too. Since I call him the Big Ragu and he is the most Italian person I know, I knew it'd be sure fire hit. Inside was the prerequisite sharp provolone, a rustic hot soppressata dry sausage, balsamic glazed figs, lupini beans, Italian long hot peppers, guanciale, and a bunch of other awesome foods! For those who do not know what guanciale is, it...