THE REAL ME
Who: John P. Zinzi
Where: Bronx NY (1951-1968); Olean NY & Duke Center PA (1968-2008)
Harrington / Milford / Milton DE (2008-present)
These stories were written and the website created with my grandchildren in mind. Not for now, of course, but I wanted to be sure that they knew that the old man they see now and will someday remember was once a young boy growing up in the big city; a man very much proud of his heritage and in love with his family. I was real, I lived. I found love and had children who, in turn, had them. Their future comes through my past.
I'm especially proud of A Father's Love, my tribute to my son and his son, my Evan. The two part Laura and the Cat is my tribute to my daughter Laura and, in the epilogue, to my little Bella. And the latest, Waiting For Her Face, is for my sweet, sweet Natalie.
I can only hope that with these short stories, my emotions will live on to touch Evan, Bella and Natalie when they are old enough to understand my desire to be more than a smiling face in some old photos. Their Grandpa was a man who loved them so very much that he never wanted to leave them without them knowing how much they meant to him from the day they were born.
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What started as a little brain exercise at the tail end of the cold Western New York winter of 2006 became a three month burst of writing that I've recorded here. Twenty-four* memory snapshots presented in the order in which they revealed themselves to me.
There will be no great truths discovered, only observations from within my head outward. Some more interesting than others, but certainly worth the price you paid to read this if not the time you took.
The stories are brief. Just click on any title...
* A new entry, Waiting For Her Face, was added in August 2009.
A special entry, Love and Marriage, was added in April 2020.
Christmas 2009 - Milford, Delaware: We're complete!
l. to r.: John Zinzi, Natalie Howard, Fior Zinzi, Bella Howard, Laura Howard, Geoff Howard, Evan Zinzi, Nicole Zinzi, James Zinzi
