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Friday Photo Flashback

Note: This blog is about my personal experience and is not intended to bash anyone’s religious beliefs. I am more than happy to share my faith with those who ask, but I also know that everyone has a right to what they believe. That being said, I will proceed.

I was born and raised Catholic.  Isn’t that what all Italians are?  When I was about 16 one of my coworkers and I were talking and he brought up the Bible. He was also raised Catholic. He questioned a lot of things in our shared religious background.

This led to more conversations. Over the course of the next few weeks we talked more and more about things that didn’t necessarily line up with what the Bible says. I already had questions about some things, and many of them were answered by our studies.

In the end, I found that I had enough information that I left the Catholic faith. I began to read my Bible more and found a lot of great studies online from a few pastors that helped clarify a lot of the confusion I was experiencing.

When I moved to the Flint area, I was searching for something in a local Christian book store.  As I was looking through some commentaries, from the back of the store I thought I heard the voice of a pastor I was familiar with. It wasn’t him in person, but a recording of him.

I went to the cashier at the front of the store and asked about it. This led to being introduced to Al, a guy who shared my beliefs. He was also attending the same Bible School as I am in now (where the pastor I heard teaches).  He would go on to graduate the school and become pastor of our local assembly. 

Initially, we met in one of the classrooms at the Bible store.  Over time we were able to buy a building, which he remodeled and became our meeting place. He really worked hard on it. I want to say that the building used to be a bank. He had done a ton of drywall work and when he was done we had a room for the main gathering place, a nursery, bathroom, and a small kitchen.

When we began our services there, Al asked me to teach the Sunday morning Sunday School class. At first I spoke on different topics every week. Then I began to do some series, which the members of our church really enjoyed. One of the series was on Manuscript Evidence and how the Bible came to be. That was a lot of fun to teach.

I tell you all of that because it leads me to today’s Photo Flashback.

The above picture is of me and my oldest son. It was taken in between Sunday School and Sunday Service. I would guess that this is around 2004. It very well may have been as Easter service because he is kind of dressed up.

He didn’t always stay still in the nursery and was often very loud. We had probably just gotten the diagnosis of Developmental Delay around this time. It wasn’t odd for him to walk up to me while I was teaching Sunday School. When he did that, I usually picked him up and continued teaching.

My ex (who is cropped out of this picture) had gotten to the point where she didn’t want to go anymore. I wound up going alone and teaching for a while. Then, my ex would plan things that made it hard for me to keep teaching. On top of that, I was working Saturday overnights and it was difficult to work 12 hours, drive an hour home, wait an hour or two before heading to church.

They stream online now, so I can watch him or other pastors all over the country from the comfort of my couch. The kids are not to the point where they will sit still long enough to listen, so they watch Paw Patrol or whatever while I listen to a message. I miss being there live and I certainly miss teaching. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to do that again soon.

Celebrating 1800 – Cheers!

I’ve never been a tequila man, but the picture fit the blog. This week the Nostalgic Italian reached 1800 posts! 1800 posts about music, television, movies, books, my wife and kids, and ME. I’m grateful that you find the things I post interesting enough to come back for more. Thank you.

My blog doesn’t have 20,000 followers or get mentioned much by other blogs, and I am ok with that. I have come to know you through your posts and I consider you a friend. I again thank you for making this site a “reading stop” every so often.

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Over the weekend, I got to spend some time with the kids. On Sunday we went to the park, but they were the only kids at the playground. They played for a bit, but when no other kids came, they decided to take a walk on the trail that runs through the park.

It was a beautiful day with sunshine and nice temperatures. We walked down the trail looking for caterpillars, squirrels, birds, trees and flowers. Every once in a while, they’d walk ahead of me just talking about things. I love when they get along and treat each other good. Every once in a while, they get to a place that is perfect for a picture.

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Andrew started his Pre-K class this week. I feel bad for those teachers. There are 9 students and 6 of them are boys! I wasn’t sure how he would do with us leaving, but he actually has done really well. Many of the kids were all grabbing onto their parents screaming and crying. It was worse on the second day, which surprised me. Andrew, however, gave me a hug and said, “See ya later, Dad!” and walked right in.

All summer long he talked about not wanting to go to school. When my wife went to pick him up, he said he wanted to stay longer. Go figure.

One funny story: On the first day of school I was helping to get the kids dressed. I asked my wife if I should put Andrew in a collar shirt. He heard me and said, “A collar! I’m not a dog, Dad!”

Smart kid!

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I came across this on one of the social media pages this week. It is such an outlandish scenario that I truly wish that someone had made it happen! Ok, picture it with me:

Batman fighting crime with the aid of …… Columbo!

That would be priceless!!!

Thanks again for reading!!!

Book Recommendation – The Man Who Died Seven Times

I recently took the kids to Barnes and Noble to get a book.  While I was there, I looked around at the new books.  I always like to see what’s out and what I might want to add to my list.

They had a “Staff Recommends” shelf.  There were a few on the shelf that I had already read, a few that were on my “to read” list, and some that were completely new to me.  One of the new ones was by an author I had never heard of, but the title was enough for me to pick it up and see what it was about. It was called The Man Who Died Seven Times, and it peaked my interest so much, I bought it.

Over the holiday weekend, I took advantage of quiet moments and read. Most of the books I read are audio books in the car, so it was nice to sit with a physical book. From the moment I started reading it, I was hooked. I was able to read it over a three day span. Here is the Goodreads synopsis:

Hisataro, a young member of the wealthy Fuchigami family, has a mysterious ability. Every now and then, against his will, he falls into a time-loop in which he is obliged to re-live the same day nine times. Little does he know how useful this ability will be, until one day, his grandfather mysteriously dies…

As he returns to the day of the murder time and again, Hisataro begins to unravel its secrets. With a sizeable inheritance up for grabs, motives abound, and everyone is a suspect. Can Hisataro solve the mystery of his grandfather’s death, and prevent it, before his time-loop ends?

The hardest part about the book was keeping the various Japanese names strait. Thankfully, there is a helpful chart in the front of the book that keeps the family members organized and names the secondary characters. Every once in a while, I’d have to flip there to make sure I knew who I was reading about.

The story has sort of a Groundhog Day feel to it. It reminded me of Stuart Turton’s “The Seven and a Half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.” In that book the main character relives each day as a different character in the story. This one has the same character reliving each day.

I was surprised to learn that this book was written back in 1995 by Yasuhiko Nishizawa and recently translated to English for a 2025 release. Outside of the character names and a few Japanese references, it reads just like a good mystery.

Each day Hisataro learns something new about his grandfather’s death. Each day also presents in a way that shines the spotlight on someone who may be the murderer. I was guessing all the way through the book.

Admittedly, the ending had a nice twist to it, but I expected something a bit different. Because of the twist, it ended the way it had to I’m guessing. Don’t let my opinion keep you from reading this. It is a great book that makes you want to read “just one more chapter” before putting it down.

I should go back to Barnes and Noble and thank the staff member who recommended this one. I enjoyed it!

4.5 out of 5 stars

Tune Tuesday

Billy Preston was born on this day in 1946.

Preston was a keyboardist, singer, and songwriter whose work encompassed many genres of music.  He was R&B, rock, soul, funk, and even gospel. 

Preston started off at the age of 10 playing keyboards for gospel legend Mahalia Jackson. Later he joined Ray Charles’ touring band before recording with The Beatles on several of their tracks including “Get Back” and “Let It Be” (The Beatles considered him to be the fifth Beatle). He also played on a number of Sly & The Family Stone recordings and went on to have a successful solo career with five Top 10 US hits.

He was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, backing artists like Little Richard, Sam Cooke, the Everly Brothers, the Rolling Stones! He also made a name for himself as a solo artist. Today let’s look at two of his hits.

Will It Go Round in Circles

This funky soul number was Billy Preston’s first #1 solo single. The virtuoso keyboardist, who was credited on the Beatles’ “Get Back” and joined them for their iconic 1966 rooftop concert, was briefly signed to the Fab Four’s Apple Records but found success with a switch to A&M Records. Music Is My Life was Preston’s second album on the LA-based label; his first, I Wrote A Simple Song, yielded the Grammy Award-winning instrumental “Outa-Space, which narrowly missed the #1 slot.

This was born out of a joke Preston made to his songwriting partner, Bruce Fisher, about having a song but no melody. The comment inspired the opening refrain, “I got a song that ain’t got no melody, I’m gonna sing it to my friends,” and set up similar proclamations, such as having a story with no moral and having a dance with no steps.

Nothing From Nothing

Billy Preston started writing this one night in the dressing room of an Atlanta nightclub where he was performing. He wanted to write a song based on the saying, “Nothing from nothing leaves nothing,” a variation on Bob Dylan line: “When you’ve got nothing, you’ve got nothing to lose.”

“The saloon piano gave it character,” Preston explained, “and I had a feeling it would be a hit because it was a singalong kind of thing.”

Bruce Fisher, who was Preston’s songwriting partner (he co-wrote “Will It Go Round In Circles”), added a second verse.

Fun Fact: The B-side of the single was another song Preston wrote with Fisher: “You Are So Beautiful,” which was later a hit for Joe Cocker.

Bonus Fun Fact: “Nothing From Nothing” was the first song performed on Saturday Night Live. Preston and Janis Ian were the musical guests on the October 11, 1975 debut of the show.

The later years of his life were plagued by substance abuse, health issues and legal issues.  In 1997 he was sent to prison on drug charges. He suffered from kidney disease and hypertension.  In 2005, he voluntarily entered a drug rehab center where pericarditis led to respiratory failure.  He was in a coma from November of 2004 until he died in June of 2006 at age 59.

Movie Music Monday – Saturday Night Fever

Today we wish a happy 79th birthday to Barry Gibb!

As a songwriter, Barry shares with John Lennon and Paul McCartney the record for most consecutive Billboard Hot 100 number ones, each having six. In total, he has written or co-written sixteen Billboard Hot 100 number ones.

Barry and the Bee Gees had a ton of hits in the 70’s – many of them can be found on the soundtrack of Saturday Night Fever.

For a little history on today’s song, I turned to Songfacts:

In 1977, The Bee Gees manager Robert Stigwood was producing a movie about the New York disco scene. The working title of the film was “Saturday Night,” so he asked the group to write a song of that name. The Bee Gees thought it was a dumb title, but they had already written a song called “Night Fever.” They convinced Stigwood to use that and change the film’s title to Saturday Night Fever. The movie became a classic, telling a coming-of-age story in the disco era. It helped launch the film career of John Travolta, who starred as Tony Manero, the conflicted youth who escaped his troubles on the dance floor.

The soundtrack for Saturday Night Fever sold over 30 million copies worldwide and won the 1978 Grammy for Album Of The Year. Night Fever was the third single from the soundtrack and its biggest hit, remaining on the top of the Hot 100 for eight weeks in early 1978. It also topped the British singles chart for two weeks and won a 1978 Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance By A Group.

In America, it spent more weeks (eight) at #1 than any other song in 1978. For five of those weeks (March 18 – April 15), another Bee Gees song from Saturday Night Fever, “Staying Alive,” was #2. The last week it was at #1 (May 6), “More Than a Woman” by Tavares, which was written by the Bee Gees and featured in the film, reached its chart peak of #32. The following week, “If I Can’t Have You” replaced “Night Fever” at #1.

Light up the disco ball … Happy Birthday, Barry!

Weekend Funny

I was driving by the golf course earlier today.  I noticed a lot of folks squeezing in one last round before summer ends. It reminded me of a joke:

Two dimwitted golfers are teeing off on a foggy par 3.  They can see the flag, but not the green.  Both golfers hit from the tee into the fog. They head to the green to find their balls.

One ball is about 6 feet from the cup, while the other one made it into the cup for a hole in one.  Both players are playing the same brand of ball, and they can’t figure out whose ball is whose.

The golf pro is driving by and the men ask him to weigh in.  He congratulated both men on their fantastic shots.  Then he looked at them and asked “Which one of you was using the orange ball?”

Friday Photo Flashback

I have a few pictures of me that I absolutely love. I may have featured this one before, but it makes me smile when I see it.

This is me at my grandma’s house. It is taken in their front room, where no one was really ever allowed to go (at least when we were there). It was rare that anyone would venture into this room, let alone sit in it.

I’m not sure how old I am here, but I’d guess one or two. I love the look of determination on my face in it. I have no idea what kind of suit I am wearing here. As I look at it, I’m not really sure that shirt even goes with it. I also wonder if I had just woke up from a nap because of the way my hair is all messed up.

That’s my mom behind me. I wish there was more of her face in the picture. I love her smile here. I am guessing that my grandma is sitting on the couch in front of me.

Speaking of the couch, get a load of that crazy design! Compared with the chair my mom is sitting in, I can’t help but ask if these two pieces of furniture even go together. It is almost like they are from two separate (and ugly) sets.

Photos of my grandma’s house are always neat just because of the stuff in the background. The table behind my mom has candlesticks and a lamp on it. I don’t get it. That lamp also has a wacky design on it. I remember that it had one of those light bulbs that had three different brightness levels on it. It also had a way to make the bottom of the lamp only light up.

That orange pillow behind my grandma – I remember it being like a silky kind of material that seemed to snag on anything. There were always little threads hanging off it where it got caught on something.

This is one of those photos where I wish I could zoom out and get a bigger picture of what’s going on. Sadly, I can’t. So I will look at myself staring at this apple with a bite out of it and my mom smiling …. and smile.

Sometimes You Gotta Do What You Gotta Do

My doctor is not going to be happy. That’s why I am waiting to tell her about my latest life change.

I’ve been on second shift for over a year now and I love it. My blood pressure is good, my mood is better, and I actually get to enjoy an hour lunch. However, after the first week of Ella being in kindergarten, I got a picture of what things were going to be like over the next few years.

In total last week I saw her for about 25 minutes in the morning on school days. That’s it. Yes, I got my normal evening video call from the kids, but it isn’t enough. My wife reminded me of all of the summer activities I missed because of work recently. This led to a lot of deep thinking and discussion.

Last week, I went to my boss and asked what the possibility of going back to nights would be. She looked at me in shock because she knows how much I love my shift now. “I would love to have you back on nights. You are a great educator to both patients and the students. But is it really what you want to do?”

I had told her if it was not possible, I would stay at my current shift and I’d be ok with that. I then explained how hard I thought about it. My boss has always understood that “family comes first.” I told her that working midnights would allow me more time with my kids because I would have four days in a row off each week. She said to take the weekend to think it over.

Tuesday, we talked more and she once again asked if I was sure about the change. I said I was and the change was put in motion. In the next few weeks, I’ll be showing some of the staff some of the stuff that I was responsible for on days. Then I will transition back to the midnight shift.

Things are a lot different than when I was on nights before. There are some good people who will be working with me and they will make the transition and easy one. We have three students who are learning the ropes and getting ready to take their board exam, too. So I will be able to help them prepare for that as well.

I have a feeling that it will be a challenge to make the switch back, but knowing there will be more time with my kids makes it worth it.

Life’s Little Moments

The past few weeks have been crazy. It seems like every one of us has had doctor appointments for various things. Then Ella starting Kindergarten began an entirely new schedule for us. Andrew will start preschool after the holiday, so there are yet more changes coming.

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My father-in-law is the best! As you know, he has helped me with every project I have had to do at home. He is always bringing over tools to work on things because I don’t have them. Well, they sadly had to sell their place up north. When they went up to clean out their stuff, he found some things for me.

My brothers-in-law and my father-in-law each have just about every tool at home. So when they were cleaning stuff, they brought some tools to me.

I was super surprised when he brought home a couple saws (including a chain saw), an oscillating tool, a drill and an impact drill. It was like Christmas came early. I’ll have to rearrange the garage, or better yet, get a nice big tool box to put them in. Thanks, Dad.

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Sunday I took the kids to the Children’s Zoo. The weather was perfect. The high was only in the low 70’s and there was plenty of sunshine.

We’re zoo members, so we can ride the train and carousel as many times as we want. We certainly did!

The animals were plenty active that day. The monkeys were bouncing all over the place, the penguins were swimming, and the prairie dogs seemed extra crazy. What thrilled the kids (and me) was the otter. They usually swim around and ignore folks, but Sunday one was putting on a show! He kept swimming by the glass, doing flips in the water, and following kids back and forth on the other side of the glass. He seemed to come right up to the glass to everyone who was there.

The kids loved every second.

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Monday was weird weather wise. It went from sunny to cloudy and back to sunny. Every once in a while there was a small shower, but nothing big. My wife wanted me to grill burgers for dinner. So I went out, started the grill (as the sun was shining) and put the patties on the grill. within 5 minutes there was crazy rainfall. It was coming down pretty hard along with some good thunder. Me neighbors must have thought I was crazy!

Thank goodness my wife’s car was unlocked so I could grab her umbrella!