Dr. Grandpop Salvatore Cucinotta, M.D.

This past week I have been reflecting on my life as a whole and have found myself going back to one man that had opened my eyes and mind to the world around me. Something I had been sheltered to, but where no one is at fault, just that this was the one person in my life, at that very time, who I was to meet, who would open those doors and introduce me.

In the years 2001 and 2002, I spent every Wednesday night with Grandpop C. He taught me how to cook, got me out of my vegetarianism, gave me a historical point of view I could never imagine, gave me advice on love and many, many more amazing stories and anecdotes that I will begin to share with you.

Seeing as my mother's mom died when she was 18 and her father died when I was 12.. my father's parents disowned him for reasons that his immediate family loves and respects him for, I had no idea what it was to have grandparents. And then Grandpop C, my best friend's (since we were five) grandfather became the closest, but even more-so, my friend.

I am going to introduce you to Grandpop C so you have the best understanding of this man that i respect and love in hopes that even if you never had the opportunity to cross his path through life, i may be able to pass along a few pieces of his whole and I promise you, it will feel like the two of you once enjoyed an amazing fliet minion with an excellent glass of wine handpicked by Dr. C himself and finished off the meal with vinella ice cream over a mango and a drizzle of ameretteo.

Walk with me, let me take you back.. on the first Wednesday night that we sat toegther, he taught me to always have wine with dinner. Make sure you sip between meals, as it cleans the pallet - yes, when I left Grandpop C's, I was always a bit tipsy.

He also gave me an old piece of paper with many, many, many quotes and told me to keep it, read it and mull over them. As I look back over the structure of our relationship, this would be the first insight into his world that I received and he was preparing me for it. And I, like a good little pupil, did so. Most of the following you may have heard, most will be new, what's more, I have stories that reflect each one of them. (I just got chills as I briefly remembered a few) Over the course of our dinners together and between the political debates (what a time it was, September 11th, the War in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq, President Bush, my brother enlisting in the army) and historical avenues of decades of memory that he trudged me through, there were the most beautiful and life changing stories that would leave me in utter awe.

To begin.. below is the paper he gave me to take home and ponder.. until next week.

...

Grandpop always said that when you are in a fight with someone you love. Even if they are in the wrong, forgive them.

"Experience is knowledge. Knowledge is experience." S. Cucinotta, M.D.

"EVALUATE THESE APHORISMS, AND ASSESS THEM IN ACCORDANCE TO THE TONE OF YOUR THOUGHTS." S. Cucinotta, M.D.

1. The only person to admit guilt to, is God.

2. Make people feel good about themselves.

3. Self confidence augments persuasion.

4. If a man points a finger at someone else, he should remember three of his fingers are pointing at himself.

5. No order is going to let the lion be by a lamb unless the lamb is inside the lion.

6. To be mad at a person you love is madness in the brain.

7. When a mouse laughs at a cat, there is a hole nearby.

8. Merchants (corporations) have no country, their attachment is where they get their grains.

9. Many chaste women are those who haven't been asked.

10. A critic is a person who knows the way but he cannot drive a car.

11. The last garment is made without pockets.

12. Words pay no debts.

14. There is in all men a demand for the superlative, so much so, that the poor devil who has no other way of reaching it, attains it by getting drunk.

15. He who limps is still walking.

16. He who has no silver in his pockets should have silver in his tongue.

17. We are adhering to life with the last muscle - the heart.

18. There is no failure except in longer trying.

19. A celebrity is a person who works hard to be known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized.

20. It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees.

21. Lawyers and painters can change white to black.

22. It is not the years in your life but the life in your years that count.

23. Dare not call it love unless it is forever.

24. Man is an ingenious machine that can turn the best wine into urine.

25. A women's guess (intuition) is more accurate then a man's certainty.

26. Ten persons who speak make more noise than ten thousand that are silent.

27. An old man loved is winter with flowers.

28. If a donkey bray on you, don't bray at him.

29. He that pays beforehand shall have his not well done.

30. A tear dries quickly especially when it is shed for other people's trouble.

31. Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even when there is no river.

32. If you ever inject truth into politics you have no politics.

33. When a man is praying he is telling himself keep calm, everything is alright, it's alright.

34. A neurotic is a person who builds castles in the air. A psychotic is a person who lives in it, and a psychiatrist is the one who collects the rent.

35. Sickness comes on horseback and departs on foot.

36. There are three kinds of lies, lies, demand lies and statistics.

37. My thoughts are my company, I can bring them together, select them, detain them and dismiss them.

38. The believing we do something when we do nothing is the first illusion of tobacco.

39. Give man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

40. In the space age, man will be able to go around the world in two hours, one hour for flying and the other to get to the airport.

41. Nothing dries sooner than a tear.

42. To weep is to make less the depth of grief.

43. Zeal will do more than knowledge.

44. A blend of work, rest and play will give a happy life.

45. The word defeat is not in your vocabulary.

46. Good living is equality in work, rest and play. Work too much is no good. Play too much is no good. Rest too much is no good. Blend the three for happiness.