Fathers + Sons

Paul Armano was born in Polizzi Generosa, Italy in 1936.  Like many immigrants —he came to America looking for a better life.  And he gave us that life—working pretty much every job you could imagine until eventually opening his own business as a barber.  Here I ask him "what's the secret"?  His answer is simple:

"You gotta dig."

You can just make out the slight chuckle in my voice as I repeat his reply.  But like many fathers—dad has a wisdom that's not always as obvious as his answers may initially seem.  When I planted last year's garden—I didn't go nearly as deep as he did.  Not even half as much.  And the plants didn't do very well.  Sometimes the obvious isn't always... obvious.  But my dad, the barber wasn't finished teaching me that day.  He also taught me that we can connect without words.  Later that afternoon we went out and bought a chainsaw of all things.  We have trees on our property that needed some large, dead branches to be cut down.  So we spent  a good portion of the afternoon doing just that. 

It's probably something I'll always remember—and we barely spoke a word.

Dad and I haven't always gotten along.  Not an unusual story—many fathers + sons have difficulties relating.  But there comes a point when you look at the bigger picture and you realize how short life is—and you make choices.

And those choices make all the difference.