DEAR DAD,

Today you would have been 95!

I decided to write to you today because it is your birthday and there are things I need to tell you.

Anthony, you grandson, named after you, got married 2 months ago! He seems to have hitched himself to a star, and beautiful star that outshines the whole galaxy! But it isn’t her looks that impress me, it’s her brains and talent. And you would love this, you remember how you called Granma the: “Old Redhead”? Well Courtney, Anthony’s new wife is a redhead! And I think she really loves him!

Things have not changed much here in some ways, the Mets still stink, and the Jets still hold promise. But you would not believe the world today in many ways. Phones fit in your shirt pocket, there are computers to instantly communicate, and see far-flung parts of the world. You can even be guided in your car by a GPS! Takes you wherever you want to go!

Mom has slowed down a bunch, doesn’t cook all that much any more, but she is sharper than a tack.

ROLLIC IS GONE! They knocked down the building where you spent most of your time, and helped me to make money, and learn about life in a positive way. When they took the building away, they took a part of you away too.

From the 5-room apartment in Brooklyn on Hull Street, the family has become so large, so diverse, and so interesting. The amount of great grandchildren you have would make you impossible to live with. They are born everyday, and they are all beautiful. So are the people that married into the family, they are pretty terrific. We had some spills, but we are better off because of it, and it allows us to live better lives.

All your daughters are doing great, a little older but more beautiful, and I’m pretty proud of all of them. (Please don’t tell them that!)

But we do miss you. We miss you when the Mets lose and when they win, we miss you on Christmas Eve, or whenever we have a wedding or a birth. We miss you and your warm humor, kindness and generosity, something I could never live up to, but you were special.

It’s funny that whenever I hear the name Tony, I think about you, your sense of humor, and your feeling of security you gave us all.

There was one thing that kept going through my mind when #1 Son got married. I remember how you were dying, and you asked me to make sure you got to his graduation from high school. I thought to myself that if I did anything, I would see that you were there. But you didn’t hold up your end of the bargain, leaving us too soon. But all that day I kept thinking: “I wish Dad was here.”

I miss you.

Love,

Your only son, Joseph