During an exciting baseball season, the St. Louis Cardinals' gentle giant Mark McGwire displayed unforgettable good sportsmanship and grace under pressure while pursuing baseball's home-run record.
His accomplishments stirred a country-wide resurgence of pride that happily replaced those unpleasant political headlines for a time.
And in the fall of last year, when other men his age were well into retirement, John Glenn demonstrated a style and lust for life that embodied the true definition and folklore of the American hero. Rocketing back into space and back into our hearts, Glenn showed the world that we're never too old to dream, or to pursue our quests--no matter how impossible they may seem. It was a lesson that inspired us all.
But all heroes aren't made in a space shuttle or created on a baseball diamond. Sometimes their origins are closer to home, and our inspiration is found in a special friend or relative who fills our personal definition of a hero. For me, that special someone is my godfather, Uncle Nick Dinapoli.
The term "godfather" often conjures up Francis Ford Coppola's menacing character Don Corleone, from the 1977 film The Godfather. To the contrary, my Uncle Nick's lifestyle is far removed from Hollywood's version of the Italian godfather, and his life a more productive and rewarding one.
Uncle Nick, who's approximately the same age as astronaut John Glenn, may not have accomplished the same historic feats as the senior senator from Ohio, but it isn't always one great act of heroism or courageous deed that defines a hero. Sometimes, like Uncle Nick, a hero is made up of a hundred and one small acts of generosity performed during a lifetime, or a thousand unrewarded gestures of kindness for which nothing is asked in return.
Our family is a large extended one. And, like most large families, we've known good times and bad, some bondings and separations, but through it all, Uncle Nick Dinapoli has been the cohesive force that binds the generations together.
With each family history told, each escapade remembered, he draws the family circle tighter. Chronicled within Uncle Nick's memory banks is a treasured collection of Old World stories, family recipes, histories and anecdotes. These memories, passed down from one generation to the next, conjoin our lives in a unique and indelible way.
Like a gardener tilling his soil, Uncle Nick cultivates the seeds of family history and events, implanting them from household to household, from godchild to grandson. In time, his stories will grow and flourish with each new generation. And, if he's done his job well, someday, years from now, we'll come to depend on one another just as we depend on him.
A child's imagination marries well with tales of the Orient, cargo ships and foreign ports of call. I suppose that's why, as children, my cousins and I were so captivated and beguiled by Uncle Nick's vivid, true-life adventures of his days as a merchant seaman during World War II and later as a boatswain aboard the Liberty ship S. S. George Rogers Clark. His exciting descriptions of colorful ports of call such as Cairo, Athens and Hong Kong inspired our childhood fantasies and whetted our appetites for travel and adventure.
Today, our busy schedule doesn't always allow time for family visits, or to phone each other as often as we'd like--at least not as often as the standard set by our grandparents years ago when they lived on a nearby Almaden farm and we celebrated every holiday and special event together.
Grandma and Grandpa were proud of their eight children and the close-knit family they'd raised. I remember hearing Grandpa often say that the best products from his farm were his children. During World War II, when Grandma's five sons were serving overseas in different parts of the world, she was asked by a friend which one of her boys she thought would come home a hero. Grandma replied: "You don't raise heroes, you raise sons. And if you treat them like sons, they'll turn out to be heroes, if only in your own eyes."
Like my grandparents, Uncle Nick and his wife Nancy are true nurturers. Whether it be their three children, Bill, Ron and Trina; or their four grandchildren, Nicky, Mary, Jenna and Angelina; or their prolific backyard vegetable and fruit garden, they take great pride in nourishing a fine crop.
From his backyard apple trees, planted decades ago, Uncle Nick harvests enough apples to make his annual 80 homemade pies from scratch. From his pepper and tomato patch, he yields enough ripe produce to make cases of bottled ketchup and jars of tomato sauce. This wonderful bounty of food is generously shared by Uncle Nick and Aunt Nancy with their ever-growing circle of family and friends. Whenever Uncle Nick pays us a visit, he invariably brings with him an armload of our favorite foods, his only reward the expression of sheer joy that fills our faces whenever he comes to call.
My godfather is a hug, a voice on the phone that makes me happy, a visit that brightens my day. He's a generous smile and tender words that ring with wisdom. Always there to fill the voids, to counsel and console, he shares my good times and bad and remains an indelible part of my childhood memories and ideals, ideals that I keep locked away in that very special place in my heart reserved for unclaimed dreams and fanciful heroes.
A wise philosopher once said: "Kindness in words creates confidence, kindness in thinking creates profoundness, and kindness in sharing creates love." Thanks, Uncle Nick, for all your years of sharing.
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
