Marie Oppedisano
Stories about my Dad by Marie Oppedisano
Dad told me that one of the highlights of his life was when his brother Tony was born. He and his sister Laura waited patiently in the front room for hours, hearing noises, not entirely unaware that something momentous was occurring. The midwife eventually brought Uncle Tony into them, naked, in an onion sack, telling them he had been brought by angels.
The next highlight of his life was when his sister Laura, got married. She was the only girl and it was a big deal.
The third highlight of his life was meeting and marrying Mom. He had his eye on her and then heard from a friend that she was ‘top shelf’. He defied his own mother to marry her, since grandma wanted Dad to marry the girl across the street because she was going to inherit.
When Dad went to live in Italy he brought roller skates with him. Every night he would entertain the town by roller skating from the Piazza to the train station. When he moved back to America he gave the skates to his friend.
Dad not only loved his brother, and helped him, he also ruled over him until Tony caught up and then passed him in height. Dad helped Tony with his paper route. However, Tony paid for the help by pulling Dad in a wagon while Dad threw the papers onto front stoops. They remained close always and loved to attend Syracuse University basketball games together.
He loved sports. He played basketball, baseball, tennis and golf, which he didn’t take up until his 40's. He bowled a 703 series, was hailed by journalist Ed Reddy as a “watch charm” guard who played fine football and was a key player at North High. He made All City 1st string and Captain in college and played semi-pro football after that.
Dad has a passion for life - a zest for living. He does everything to the utmost. One time he was working with his father on the addition to our house on South Edwards Avenue in Eastwood. Grandpa worked slow and steady . . . arm up and down in perfect rhythm. Dad worked like a maniac, hardly breathing, until, shortly afterwards, he collapsed and Grandpa said, "Mike you rest, I’ll work, I’ll finish."
His zest for living spilled over into enthusiasm for all living things. He didn’t do things by half, that’s for sure. He went out ‘just to trim the trees, Mary.” He came back into the house, my mother glanced in the backyard and promptly started crying, a rare occurrence in our household. Dad had not only done a trim, he had performed operations on the trees in our backyard; they were whittled down to bare bark. Many months and prayers later, a few buds appeared on our backyard trees.
He waged a serious combat with Parkinson’s, calling each waging a long term battle against a fierce enemy. He took the words of John Paul Jones commanding Bonhomme Richard during the Revolutionary War to heart. When asked at the peak of the battle’s fury by the captain of the larger British ship, “Sir, will you surrender the ship?” Nones’ reply has gone down in history: “I have not yet begun to fight!” That’s what Dad did.
When he went to see Top Banana starring Phil Silvers, major star, with one of his best friends and my godfather, Nick Colaneri, and found out it was $6.00 he exclaimed, “Six dollars! I don’t want to buy the place!” They didn’t go in.
Mike graduated from General Electric’s Management Manufacturing Studies program, was a Foreman in the Semi-Conductor Unit, then supervisor of Solid State Applications Operations Wafer Processing. He was a member of the General Electric Foreman’s Association.
