Tag Archives: story

A Boy’s Blush – From the Archives

Posted on March 5, 2020 by toritto

My street – 13th Avenue at 66th street Brooklyn in the late 1940s I lived in the buildings on the extreme left with the triangular roof lines above the awnings. The heat baked the concrete streets of Brooklyn that Summer … Continue reading →

Posted in family | Tagged 1950s, biography, Charlie the Sailor, Cherry Pink, Connie, Dodgers, Elvis, first crush, growing up, music, older woman, radio man, rock and roll, story, sweet Connie, Tennessee Waltz. innocence | 2 Comments

The Ugliest Valentine’s Day Card Contest

Posted on February 11, 2016 by toritto

“You get away cheap on Valentine’s Day!” she would quip with a smile. Carnations were her favorite flower. Not roses. Carnations. Long stem reds and whites wrapped in that paper that goes inside flower boxes with a bow, a card and delivered by … Continue reading →

Posted in family | Tagged Brazil music, carnations, contest, family, flowers, Jobim, love, roses, story, tus besos nunca mas, ugliest card, Valentine, Valentine card, valentine's Day | 3 Comments

Mom Would Have Been 93

Posted on January 20, 2016 by toritto

Mom, me with the glasses and my two brothers. The baby is already gone My mother Mary would have been 93 years old this week. She is gone longer than she was here – she will be gone 50 years on … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged birthday, Brooklyn, devito, diabetes, epilepsy, family, forte, heart disease, lafragola, mother, orphanage, scarangello, story | 12 Comments

Being Eliza Doolittle

Posted on January 12, 2016 by toritto

A re-post from November 2014 Toritto, channeling Buddy Holly, soon to be Eliza Doolittle with a cup O’joe – 1959 Toritto graduated from Lafayette High School in Brooklyn in June 1959. Lafayette was one of the crown jewels of NYC … Continue reading →

Posted in family | Tagged black man in America, changing, class diference, eliza doolittle, first job, pygmalion, story, tagged 1959, wall street, women in workforce | 3 Comments

Billy and Me – New Year’s Eve – 1959

Posted on December 28, 2015 by toritto

New Year’s Eve, 1959. It was a mild winter evening in Brooklyn that year. A good night to be in Times Square…not that we were there. We locals always thought Times Square was for tourists. Billy and me were walking the Coney Island boardwalk. Next year – 1960 … Continue reading →

Posted in family | Tagged 1959, best friend, Billy, boardwalk, Brooklyn, Coney Island, Guy Lombardo, hopes and dreams, Nathan's, poverty, seventeen, story | 4 Comments

Christmas Revels and Simple Gifts

Posted on December 14, 2015 by toritto

Ghosts of Christmas past Yes I’m guilty. This will be my 73nd Christmas and yes, I am one of those who gets all warm and fuzzy around Christmas time. People measure their lives in different ways. Birthdays are the most obvious of course but some … Continue reading →

Posted in family | Tagged being an old timer, children, Christmas, Christmas Revels, experience, family, love, simple gifts, story, times of life, traditions, widower | 4 Comments

Nochebuena in South Florida!

Posted on December 10, 2015 by toritto

A re-post from Christmas Past Well it was Nochebuena, Christmas Eve in South Florida and Nochebuena in South Florida means pig roasting. This Brooklyn bred, Staten Island New Jersey Italian guy was going to partake in a 500 year old … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged cuban tradition, family, Hialeah, Lauderdale by the Sea, Mary's Ranch, Miami, noche buena, pig picking, pig roasting, south florida, story, tagged christmas eve | 5 Comments

Our Fabulous Christmas Wedding!

Posted on December 7, 2015 by toritto

An annual December repost Her high school graduation photo ….so I had just turned 21 and in basic training at Ft. Dix N. J. and she was 18, fresh out of high school the previous June (I took her to her Prom) … Continue reading →

Posted in family | Tagged Army, becoming adults, Brooklyn, Christmas, happiness, high school, opposition, parents, St. Bernadette's R.C. church, story, wedding, young love | 3 Comments

A Box of Trojans Please!!

Posted on October 28, 2015 by toritto

Yes my children. Though some of you might not believe it we had sex in the ‘50s. Yes we did. Even the Cleaver though on black and white TV no one ever had sex. Or went to a toilet. Now … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1950s, abortion, back seat, biography, Catholics, Confession, contraception, drive-ins, drug stores, Griswold, motels, Roe v. Wade, rules of sex, sex, story, teens, the pill, Trojans, youth | 4 Comments

For Nickie – Who Would Have Been 67 Next Week

Posted on September 12, 2015 by toritto

Mom, standing, holding Nicholas. Seated are my aunt and her son (he’s now retired in Arizona. On the ground are Alfred (left) and me (right. Taken in Hempstead Lake State Park on Long Island, 1949. Nickie, Alfred and me. In that … Continue reading →

Posted in family | Tagged drugs, estrangement, family, loss, regrets, story, the picture, youngest brother | 7 Comments

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