Tag: nonno

February 12th is an extremely difficult day for me, as it has been four years since my Nonno passed away. Everything I do is in memory of Nonno. Below is an excerpt of a speech I gave honoring my Nonno at one of his services: 

I have always told people that my Nonno is my favorite person and my favorite teacher.  I’ll tell everyone I meet how much I love my Nonno and Nonna.  Nonno and I shared a love of ancient Egyptian history and this common interest created such a bond between us. My best childhood memories are the two of us looking through one of his hundreds of books in the basement while we sat at his desk or on the couch.  Half of the books in my own collection are actually his. Either because he gave them to me, or because I just took them.

The best day of my life was when we finally got to walk the streets of Pompeii together.  I had been waiting my whole life for those couple of hours. My sister said to me “he had been waiting his whole life for someone to care about that stuff as much as him” and she was so right. 

My cousin said to me “eravete – e sempre sarete un team bellissimo.” You have been and always will be the most beautiful team. And we are. We are the book hoarding, history loving, rock collecting, Italian speaking, Pompeii exploring, drive the rest of the family crazy in museums team. And we always will be.

While there are no words to describe my Nonno, I want to share something I wrote over 25 years ago, that he still has proudly displayed: 

My Nonno

My Nonno is so funny

He is very very silly

I love my Nonno very much

——

I’ve been listening to the song “Il tuo sguardo manca” by Il Volo a lot leading up to today because the song really describes a lot of my emotions about my Nonno’s death. This line in particular: “ma non passa un attimo, che il tuo sguardo manca in ogni strada, ogni città, dovunque vado” hits especially hard because it is so true.

This whole website, my Instagram page, and everything I do is in memory of Nonno.

“All of this is all for you, Oh, I swear to God, you’re living, Through everything I’ll ever do.” – “Two of Us” by Louis Tomlinson – this song really hits if you’re dealing with the death of a loved one. It’s raw and poignant and hard to listen to, but I feel like these particular lyrics really describe a lot. 

Today is a very difficult day for me (and my family), because it’s been three years since my Nonno passed away. It’s been three years since I’ve seen him, since we talked, since we laughed. There are times when I’m overwhelmed with sadness because I still cannot believe it happened. We spent so much time together and life still feels empty without my Nonno here. I’m not going to lie – I spent a lot of yesterday crying, and I will probably spend today that way too. 

This website (and my original Instagram account) is basically a manifestation of my grief and I started it in April 2020 as a way to try and manage my grief because it was overwhelming me. This account is also a way for my Nonno’s name and image to continue on. All I want is for people to see what an incredible person my Nonno was and how much he meant to me. 

I’m so lucky that my Nonno shared his passion for history with me at such a young age, and started my lifetime passion. Every time I post, you’re seeing an extension of what my Nonno knew, because he either taught it to me, or graciously gave me his books to read. All of this is Nonno – I’m just the messenger. 

Nonno and I have been best buds since day one and while I’m so lucky I had my Nonno with me for 27 years, I still feel like we needed more time. But if I’m being honest, no amount of time would’ve been enough. 

Nonno, I love you and miss you so much.

𓏙𓋹𓆖𓎛𓇳𓎛

Today in the USA is the Thanksgiving Holiday, which is a day where we gather with our families to express our gratefulness for all that we have. As I’m sure it comes as no surprise to anyone who follows this account, I am incredibly thankful for my Nonno.

I’m thankful for everything that he taught me and for how he made learning so fun.  I’m thankful that he loved books and showed me the power of books and the knowledge they contain. I’m thankful for all of the knowledge and encouragement he gave me, because without him, I would not be able to read hieroglyphs.

I’m thankful for all of his hard work and the sacrifices he made in order to make sure my family is able to live a good life. Everything good we have is because of him.

I’m thankful that he showed me the power of hard work and I’m thankful he always encouraged me to work hard and to do my best. I wouldn’t be where I am today (a successful teacher, a self-taught (or Nonno-taught) Egyptologist) without him.

I’m thankful for the day we spent together in Pompeii (pictured above) because it was the best day of my life. It was my dream to go to Pompeii with my Nonno and I am so happy we were able to go. I’m thankful for every museum trip, every Disney vacation, and for the days we all just simply hung out together.

I also want to say thank you to the rest of my family – my mom, dad, sister and brother who all support me with this account. My dad drives us to museums and carries my bags, my mom is the director/video recorder/photographer, my sister is also a photographer and my brother gives me lots of support!

Also, a big THANK YOU to everyone on here who has followed along! I appreciate every single one of you!

𓏙𓋹𓆖𓎛𓇳𓎛