Tough Luck

An Interview with “Pete”

By Maddie Marazza

My grandpa, or as I call him, Pete, has worked hard his entire life. He lost his dad when was younger, and was without a relevant and distinct father figure for his whole life. Therefore, he strongly looked up to his mom who took care of, kept in line, and shared her values with three restless boys. He also worked extremely hard to get into college so he could get a good job. He was brave and courageous, joining the Navy. Despite difficulties and all the perseverance he had to show, he managed to grow a loving family. Now he loves spending time with family and his dog Rocky.

Who did you look up to when you were younger?

I looked up to my mother most. Because she was a single parent, and she was very strong. She also had three boys to take care of. She was just a very good mother who had good values. She was also a no-nonsense person, who tolerated no misbehavior. Overall, she was a really wonderful lady.

Who did you look up to during early, middle, and late adulthood?

Well, I looked up to my Uncle Ruffy. He was kind of like a father to me, since my father had died when I was very young. In my early and middle adulthood, I also had a couple of teachers that I really looked up to. One was a woman who taught French and Latin. She was a very, very good person and a very, very good teacher. She helped me learn a lot and overall was highly respected in the class.

How are things different today from when you were young?

I was born in 1941, and that was right before the start of World War II. I know that my mother and grandmother and my whole family grew up during the Depression, so they were very deeply moved and even deeply scarred by that. Because of that experience, they passed a lot of their values on to me and my brothers, such as frugality and not being wasteful.

Back then, there was more of a love for and of the country than there is now. People don't seem to care as much about that as much as they used to. We didn't have television. We didn't have the Internet. Instead of iPhones, we had party lines on the telephone. You'd pick up the telephone, and the operator would answer. You would give them the number you wanted to call and they would connect you to them. Communication was a lot less advanced than it is today.

You also had to think a little bit for yourself or use your imagination to entertain yourself. This is simply because you didn't have the things that kids have today. My brothers and I used to go out into the woods and play for hours. Today, if my own kids had been gone out for six hours, I would have probably called the police.

If you could receive an award for anything in your life, what would it be?

I think I would receive an award for stopping drinking 30 years ago. On a more serious note, I would receive an award for creating such a wonderful family. I helped care for two kids, your mom and your aunt, who grew up to be outstanding young ladies. who have then again helped you and your cousins become outstanding people. I'm proud to have been the start of that.

What accomplishments are you proud of, and what made you so proud of them?

This may sound silly, but staying out of trouble. First going to college, then into the Army, then to graduate school. In a sense, I achieved all that without really accomplishing a lot. That may seem silly to say, but I think it might be more applicable today than it would have been in my generation. Back then, if you didn't stay out of trouble, you were going to get punished in some way, major or not. Today, people go to jail and think that not going to jail on its own deserves some award.

Throughout your life, who has helped shape your values and beliefs?

Family, my mother, grandmother, uncles. They all guided me and helped shape my beliefs. There was also a nun that I was particularly intrigued with back in my early days, when I was 10 or 11 years old. Her name was Sister Lorenzo. We had catechism class back then since I didn't go to a Catholic school, and she was the personification of goodness and optimism. Seeing her project that throughout the class helped show me who I could be and how I could act.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

It's interesting for me, and I hope also for you, to hear about the changes from then to now; to see the evolution of random ideas from my perspective and compare them to yours. One big difference is that these days, I would rather lose my wallet than my phone. Lastly, just remember how lucky you are to have all these new items like iPhones and computers. Those items were once non-existent. The idea of a world with so much technology hadn’t even been discovered.