JimMe wrote:
son of witless... I'm Italian on my father's side, and he raised us to understand that it's much more important to live a good life than be born any specific heritage... But enjoying a specific heritage's food and peoples is more than normal... So, enjoy the welcoming pats on the head, eat-up both pastas and chocolates, and enjoy wining instead of whining...
My parents had way more children than they could handle. There were good and bad years, but in the bad years they did not cherish the idea of the supremacy of the family. From time to time my father did have good people around him. Some of his his coworkers were second generation Polish and Italians and from my time around those people and eating meals with them, I got to see people who put the idea of the Family unit above all else. That has stuck with me the rest of my life. That and the love of Italian and Polish food.
Until I had supper with them I thought Italian food consisted of only Spaghetti and Pizza. The first time we ate over at one of the houses and I tried home made lasagna I wanted to become Italian.