We had dinner at Buffalo Bills in downtown Hayward and were sitting outside for the second perceivable earthquake of the day (the first one happened when I was at work on the 14th floor of a 30 floor building in downtown San Francisco). Jonathan and I were neighbors in NYC and he has been my close friend almost eight years. He lives two blocks from where I used to live in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
As Facebook is not my life, content that I post there is only ancillary to what I post here at my own domain. I recently changed my theological and political views from Agnostic and Liberal thusly:
Devout Agnostic – Not interested in pursuing and not interested in debating useless unscientific contradictory ideas, whether they were reduced to writing at some point or not. Philosophy and scientific mental health are far more interesting to me.
Progressive Lefty – Not as liberal as some people consider me to be, but certainly not politically paternalistic. I am a loyal Democrat (as in non-backstabbing swing Democrat). Some of my best friends are Republican-identified.
As an Italian-American who has lived in Italy and knows how corrupt and political everything there is, I am embarrassed by how long it took to free Amanda Knox, who was convicted so Draconiously on almost no evidence and completely concocted xenophobia. I hope she is forever rewarded for her endurance of being used as a ploy by the Machiavellian prosecutor who sought to use her as a scapegoat for a horrific murder she had no reason nor no ability to commit.
Lest we forget that her boyfriend at the time of the killing, an Italian national, was also targeted, for being with what the media there considered a party girl harlot. He too was freed today.
This is not like the OJ Simpson trial where someone was acquitted finally after there was no explanation on how the victim died. There has already been a drifter drug dealer who had both the motive and the gender to rape and mutilate the poor roommate of Amanda. In this case he was tried and convicted with sound evidence long ago. Why the Italian tribunals had to create a conspiracy out of thin air for two other college students to have been involved is the fodder of garbage tabloids. Finally in the appeal some science was used and it was because of the diligence of those who had some common sense that Amanda and her boyfriend were exonerated. It remains to be seen if the propaganda in the Italian press will admit their mistake and correct the embarrassing excuse they have for a legal system.
Relatives and friends of my recently passed uncle have discovered that he had no insurance. My Uncle was in the military and lived overseas for this country. He contributed and worked his whole life, but died without much of anything, and his lack of health insurance probably did not help, as his CPAP machine for apnea, not to mention his gastro-intestinal problems, could not have helped the fact that he died at the age of sixty (so not even old enough to receive social security or Medicare) last week. I’m pretty furious to find out that he was another American citizen who fell through the cracks and was not able to receive optimal medical care because he could not afford it!
His VA Benefits will only cover $600 of the $2,400 funeral in Sedona, so we are taking up a collection, as his estate will definitely not be able to afford it. I can’t stand to think that this man would not be able to be buried with dignity and would rather forego taking a trip to his memorial next weekend to be able to contribute more to his funeral expenses.
Uncle Danny (October 13, 1950 – July 12, 2011), was a guy (and pretty close relative) with whom I had a lot in common. He and I loved that we could share so much with each other of our interests in many areas. We often shared musical interest stories and he encouraged my strong appreciation for people like Barbra Streisand (although he was more of an Elvis fan, of course). We also exchanged many technology ideas for our web sites. We both were divorced fathers of females. We had both lived in Italy, spoke Italian, loved Italian culture and found common ground on many subjects. I was so glad that I got to spend time with him during both my trips to Arizona last year and on and off during the years before-hand when he was living in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I have returned to. He was a great tour-guide and brought me to tears with his wonderful voice and singing ability.
In addition to the visits, we kept in touch regularly with Skype and emails especially in recent years. It warmed my heart, and my mother’s, that he was a part of the father that I had lost when I was 22. He loved and looked up to my dad so much. It bonded us emotionally to realize how prematurely we had lost my father at the age of fifty. Life just doesn’t seem fair. I know Dad was very proud of how musical Uncle Danny was, and that they were both thrilled to have been stationed in Italy at the same time, and spent time together there. My Mom (who is from Italy) was extremely touched that Dan was around in chat on Skype and yahoo with her.
Dan was really the last person who could fill in some of the blanks about my father even though my grandmother didn’t raise them together. Dan always gave me as much information as he could, toward that end. Even though I was the one who gave my little sister, Sabina, away at her wedding years ago, as my father was already dead for so many years, Dan was there in attendance at her wedding, which was wonderful to know, as he was the only piece of my father that could have been present at that time.
I will definitely miss having Uncle Danny to reach out to at a moment’s notice. I have many good memories, including surprising him with a call on Thanksgiving Day one year, just because I wanted him to know that he was thought of often, especially during the holiday season. Not only with my genealogical interests, but with the ongoing family challenges we have had, he helped me grasp a sense of an extended family that was trying to cling together to stay in touch, despite many years of being out of the loop with each other.
There are so many tentacles of our family that I’ve tried to piece together, as people in our family know. I hope going forward we will continue to become closer, despite his absence. I know that I will personally miss having that gentle man and close relative on my father’s side to connect with, who was always looking to spread around kindness and good karma.