Salute.

You know what sucks?

What sucks is getting a call at work on a Wednesday morning that your grandfather is dying so you rush home to your husband and then you both rush to Connecticut, but it's already too late. So you spend some time with your family and then rush back home and work for two days -- if you can even call it that because you just lost a loved one and you are so numb and tired and confused that you're pretty much on autopilot. Then you go back to Connecticut for a wake and a funeral and three days of immense sadness and pain. Then the day after the funeral you are ready to get back to your routine, but your husband, who has decided that your life is not chaotic enough, comes down with the flu and you spend the next five days taking care of him all while working nine hour days with a two hour commute. Meanwhile, friends are calling to check in on you which you know is really sweet and amazing, but all you really want is just one quiet fucking second to yourself to process everything that has just happened to you.

And that, my friends, is what my life has been like for the past two weeks.

My grandfather was sick for quite some time and although it is never easy to lose a loved one, it gives me peace to know that he lived a long, happy, beautiful life and is no longer suffering. Today would have been his 90th birthday and I can only hope to live a life as fulfilling as his.

So here's to you Nonno. Here's to a man who sacrificed everything for his family. A man who came to this country with a wife, two children and one on the way. A man who started with next to nothing, but worked harder than anyone I know and built himself an amazing life in this country. A man who loved to dance, laugh, drink wine, play cards, walk along the beach and spend time with family. A man who will be loved, missed, cherished, remembered and celebrated for many, many years to come.

Buon Compleanno, Nonno.