Aug21

Come live with me and be my love.

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Come live with me and be my love.

Come live me and be my love, the best is yet to be.

Thirty years ago today I married the love of my life, Mark Anthony D’Agostino. He is  my sun , moon & stars; string to my kite; my Tony—my other.

T&V wedding day, August 21, 1982

I remember distinctly the moment I knew with absolute certainty that T was it for me—my soul mate. We had been dating for about a month, although we had been friends for many months before that. I was sitting on his stoop with my friend Kathy from work, on a hot August early evening, watching T wash his battered but beloved VW bug.  He was so handsome and I was head over heels, beyond the moon in love.

“Kathy, I’m going to marry that guy.”

“How do you know that?” she replied.

“I just know. Every bit of me loves him. It’s something in my heart that tells me this man is the prince I’ve dreamed of since I was a little girl.”

And so it is that my own fairy tale has come true. You just have to trust your instincts when your heart speak to you. I knew then that my life with T, though I couldn’t see the road ahead, would always be one filled with love, respect, fun, caring, adventure. I also knew that this man Read the rest of this entry →

Jun17

Dad, The Center of Our Universe

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Dad, The Center of Our Universe

 

Adventurers 1992

“My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.”

—Clarence Budington Kelland

T is the Pied Piper of our family. From the moment the boys were born, he had a vision for teaching them the joys and adventure to be found in life. Sometimes the adventure was found in our own backyard. Chubby toddlers chasing fireflies in the summer dark, trying to capture their magic. Guarding snow castles from dragons coming to capture their most beautiful queen Mommy. To jump in the center of a pile of autumn leaves, where there just might be a Daddy waiting to scoop you up in his loving arms. Read the rest of this entry →

May13

Most Beautiful Queen Mommy

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Most Beautiful Queen Mommy

“Mommy loves the breeze on her knees. And sweet peas. I love Mommy.” –Adam, circa 1993

Little Momma 1963

I always knew I wanted to be a mom. Every Christmas Santa would bring me a new baby that I would love up every day with walks, diapers, bottles, naps, playtime, baths. I would dress my babies from my mother’s stash of our old baby clothes. Mom nurtured this passion in me—she knitted me baby blankets, brought  home preemie diapers for my babies from her work; she was a nurse on the labor & delivery ward at Hepburn Hospital for ions. Many a lucky baby was born under her loving care. Mom LOVED babies, and I got this gene from her.

As I grew up, I continued to dream of my own real life family. Tops on my list in a husband was a man who valued children. One who would eagerly love the joys of raising great people from the first breath. Who would show them how to live, love and have fun. T is the best Dad ever! Not just from my seat, but from the ones who matter most—the Boinkers.

When I found out I was pregnant with twins, I was ecstatic. I read Read the rest of this entry →

Apr20

The Birthday Box

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The Birthday Box

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

 I love this photo that speaks the promise of a life of joy ahead.

I suspect the photographer was my dad Henry because he was our family historian. See how we are smiling so brightly? Henry captured a moment that forever portrays the love between my mom (Joyce) and me.

Tomorrow I will be 54 years old–a half century since this photo was taken on my 4th birthday. Pop had the foresight to label 1962 on the front of the photo (faint handwriting in his dear, scraggly script).

I study this photo just about every day because I keep it on my dressing table. Whose house was this? What was in the box? Read the rest of this entry →

Mar25

Life is better with a Toto.

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Life is better with a Toto.

Dorothy had Toto. I have Fenway—our big black lab mix—my canine BFF and current doggy love of my life.

Fenway loves the sun!

He roamed the streets of Oneida landing in Wanderers’ Rest in Canastota in  2010 with the name Smiley. On the first day of spring that same year we had helped our last dog, 14-year-old Rosie the Amazing Wonder Puppy (also from WR) cross the rainbow bridge. To say we were heartbroken is an understatement. We foolishly said prior to her passing we would never get another dog. But, once a dog comes into your heart, you are forever changed. Plain and simple, we’re dog people. I asked Rosie in the great beyond to send us a new friend who would never replace her, but could keep us happy. Enter Smiley…

On the day we picked up Rosie’s ashes, T asked if we wanted to visit the shelter–just to look. I can hear you readers saying, sure…just to look. But I had already ‘looked’ on the website and saw this handsome boy with incredibly white teeth and huge grin. Maybe he was the one…

My list was specific. Our new pupper had to love other dogs and want to play. Had to love people and kids. Enough energy to keep us fit but enjoy rest. Love cats Read the rest of this entry →

Mar19

Hello world!

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Hello world!

Welcome to my blog! Check back soon for some musings on life and stories of courage, heart, brains and home. But for now, here’s my favorite lesson in life that hopefully will inspire you:

The joy is in the journey!