In 1997 my family was in the Waterbury CT newspaper , the "Republican-American" for when I located and met my father just shortly before he passed away of ALS. In 1998 we were featured in a follow up story after I had learned of and located a younger brother.
With that said, my efforts continued to find the missing pieces of my family tree and locate my family on my Mother's side. My father was adopted and unfortunately, I had never grown attached to nor met any of them as they had already passed before I was born. The phrase " just in time " has seemed to apply itself several times along my journey. Uncle Peter and I met just in time and the visit could not have been more perfect that day.
Born in
I valued his appreciation of my presence that day we met for the first time on 8-23-08 in
On a beautiful Saturday afternoon his daughter Rosemarie greeted me with a smile as I entered her home. Her twinkling eyes were like that of her father's.
We were family yet we were meeting for the very first time, yet acted as comfortable as though we'd been in contact for years. Rosemarie's husband Ron had been a Godsend with helping make all the visit arrangements. Within moments Rosemarie had me face to face with my Great Uncle Peter. I had heard so many stories about him about throughout my childhood that it was like meeting a celebrity.
Son of Ermelinda and Enrico Murano, who were orignally from
Though at the age of 88, I felt his history and Karma radiating off of him. Peter shared stories of childhood dishes like Peas & Macoroni and IceBox cake that were fed to him and his siblings during the depression. As chatter among the family filled the air, it was a gift in itself to learn about family traditions, and times shared between the family during such trying times.
During Peter's youth his sister Fannie would always greet him by saying , "Hello handsome". Though a strong man he was, who had engaged in combat during WWII and taught Physical Education while he served, such a simple greeting was appreciated by him and was how he kept his sister close to his heart.
He and wife Josephine gifted this earth with their three children Eric, Rosemarie, and Greg who in turn blessed our family further with their own chidren, and then Great-Grandchildren. Eric, Rosemarie, and Greg are gifts from heaven who I value everyday. They have the warmth, compassion and purity of their father and will forever carry the memory of him in their hearts and in everything they do.
Not knowing that it would be both the first and last time Uncle Peter and I would see each other, I feel a greater strength in each step that I take everyday at least having had the opportunity that day to tell him "I love you" before making my way back to Atlanta. He passed away quiety at his residence at 2:30pm Wednesay afternoon due to Renal and Cardiac complications. His son Eric was present.
Within the Ocean will his soul forever sing
Riding tides among the winds will his spirit forever fly
His son's carry his strength and integrity
While his daughter has her father's smiling eyes
In loving memory Peter Murano