I interviewed my Dad. One of my Dad's favorite memories was
when his Grandpa would take him to every Cubs game at Wrigley Field.
His Grandpa was the groundskeeper at Wrigley Field and so they got
in for free. Unfortunately that also brings me to his saddest memory,
when his Grandfather died. It wasn't just about the games, it was about
him being a great person, with a neat life story, and how the
Gargiulo family came to America. He came to America from Italy when
he was 19 because he did not want to serve in the army, and he wanted
a better place to live.
Some of the games my dad played when he was a kid were
chess, cards, and chinese checkers. TV was sort of new back then,
so they listened to programs they had on the radio. My dad also started
alternating when he was about 10 between his house in River Forest
and the farm his dad had just bought in Michigan. The house did not
have many rooms, so sometimes just for fun, they slept in the barn.
(but it wasn't so fun all the time) Since he was the oldest of six
though, that didn't happen much.
Another thing that became hard for
him as a teen was when he could see his parents weren't getting along.
They didn't get divorced, until after he left for college, but those
last couple years, were really hard for him.