Joe Masterleo
Jim:
Many years have passed, though I remember your mother well having visited many times at your boyhood home on Lincoln Ave. She was always warm and welcoming to me when I stopped by. It's only as the years passed that I realized the significance of "warm and welcoming," especially from those in my early years. I recall that she too had known my dad from many years ago, as the Italian-American community in Syracuse, though sizeable, was rather tight-knit in those days. Dad passed away in 1980, as did mom this past October at age 89. Despite the power of a father's influence, at their core, I think men are what their mother's make them. Embrace the best of what she was, and share it with others.
Joe Masterleo
