Robert Rosolanko
FOREWORD
Let me just say this right from the start: I love my family. I love their imperfections, as they love mine. I am grateful for having incredible brothers who have turned into true friends. I am thankful for having parents who helped shape me into the person I am today. OK, now that we’ve got that stuff out of the way…
Every family has stories. I don’t care if you’re the stereotypical “Leave it to Beaver” family, or two gay men who adopted a Nigerian orphan and live in a 3-bedroom brownstone in the Village; we all have stories. My mom calls these the “nooks and crannies” in the English muffin of life. In my case, I think our family had a few too many nooks, and not enough crannies.
For years, I’ve been wanting to write these stories down. The stories that get told time and time again whenever our family gathers for holidays, graduations, or weddings (in my case, both of them). I’ve been promising my mom that I would write a book someday, and since I’ve always heard that if one is to write, they should write what they know, I’m going to share them all with you.
Some of these stories may sound familiar, as I think that every family has common adventures that they experience during their lifetime. There are also common threads that go through each of these stories: laughter, love, laughter, embarrassment, laughter…well, you get the point. It is not by accident that whenever these stories are re-told, my family usually laughs until we cry. I think it’s a sign of a strong bond when situations that, when they originally occurred were experienced with anger or embarrassment, are re-told with laughter and love.
And in my family, we have plenty of both.