Memories

Washing The Car.

Saturday mornings, real early, Poppa and I would get up, and stop at Gianelli's from breakfast. He would have coffee and a bagel, me...a milk and a raspberry jelly donut. Poppa would get into discussions about the mayor or the police chief with the other men that were having their coffee. After about an hour, we would go down to Atlantic Avenue to the car wash. Poppa would pay the guy and hurry up and close his window. The car began to be pulled along on the conveyer belt. Slowly we entered the wash. Water spraying, brushes spinning. I always loved the way the car moved from being whacked by the brushes. Finally, the giant blower. At the end of the line, the wipey guys wiped the excess water off of the car. Poppa always said that they didn't know what they where doing, which is why after the car wash, we would drive to the "El" and park. Poppa gave me a towel and told me to do the all of the chrome, while he wiped down the body and windows. He kept all of his wax, polish and rags in a metal milk crate that he took from Bohack's grocery store. We would buff and polish until that car was so shinny that it almost looked like a mirror. Each time a nice car would drive by, Poppa would ask me what I thought of it. I would tell if I liked it or not. Of course, he would ask why. After a couple of hours, we would get back in the car and drive home. Poppa would wait until he could find a parking spot near the front of the building. Mom, would be waiting (as always) with lunch on the table.

What does Cosa Nostra mean to me? First off, before anyone starts emailing me telling me it's "La Cosa Nostra", let me tell you that the "La" is used to represent the organization. The "Cosa Nostra" I'll be talking about is the one that my father was part of and his father as well as his father. This Cosa Nostra is found in the heart, in the soul of the individual. It's something that no one can give, it isn't a bunch of magical words. To say it's just pride, would be a gross simplification. It's much more that pride. It's Cosa Nostra. It's the feeling you get when you step on Sicilian soil for the first time in your life and you feel like you have been there before. It's meeting someone of Sicilian background and realizing that you have met more than someone that shares your ethniticity, but rather someone who is your brother. And that leads me to what it was when my grandfather came to the US from Sicily in 1901. It wasn't this thing you see on TV. Yes, it was a brotherhood. But, a brotherhood for the protection and betterment of it's members. Remember, Sicilians were outcasts when they arrived here. It didn't matter what position you held in Sicily. It didn't matter if you hels a lot of land as my family did. When you came here, you were dirt. And there was no shortage of people to remind you that you were dirt, either. Ironically, all of them were from other countries as well. So, in order to survive, in order to get jobs we had to stick together. We helped each other out. And it worked. In fact, it worked too well. Soon, there were Sicilians who owned thier own businesses. And these businesses where successful. Of course, along the way, things got corrupted and the rest is history. But, deep down, in the soul of every Sicilian-American lies the original Cosa Nostra. A true Siclian-American knows what I am talking about. And they should be proud of it. They should show it. If you know of a business that is run by a Sicilian or even an Italian, patronize it. Over patronize. And the owner of that store...cut your fellow Sicilian a break. Give them a better deal. Never take advantage of each other, be there for each other. SHow the Americani what Cosa Nostra really is. Show them the brotherhood, the love. Remove the negative stereotype from thier minds. If you have children, teach them to speak Italian. If you are Sicilian learn to speak our mother tongue. And please show everyone that Sicilian is a language and NOT a dialect. If you are Siclian, you MUST learn this language. Am I preaching anti-american? Hell no! Are we not Sicilian-AMERICANs? We are Americans. And one of the factors that make up America is the fact that we are made up of people from all over the globe. Each race, religion and creed adds it's special touch in the mix. Sicilians have had only a limited impact on this "mix". It's time for us to share with the rest of America. Share things like our colorful sayings like: Cu Mancia Fa Muddichi or Camina chi pantafulli finu a quanno non hai i scarpi and Nun si po' aviri la carni senz' ossu. We have so much to share, lets start now! God Bless.

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