Dad Archives - Chris Carosa

Remembering Father Latus

By Chris Carosa on September 10, 2024

Father Charles Latus presides over the first Wedding Mass celebrated at the new opened St. Catherine’s Church in the hamlet of Mendon, NY on September 28, 1991.

My father and brother erected the family estate with their own hands. After a long search my parents found a perfect parcel on which to build. While I toiled away deskbound in some distant cubicle, the other men in the family conveyed materials in a beat-up Ford pick-up to the site. Reminiscent of “Carosa and Son” (the masonry business started by my grandfather with my father riding shotgun), the two constructed a home of their dreams.

Oddly, it wasn’t their dream home. That would come decades later.

Coincidentally, they located both homes in the Town of Mendon. The first was the ideal family home. The second was the ideal home for retirement.

That first home was more than the “ideal” family home, it was the last home that housed the entire family – Mother, Father, two adult sons, a high school daughter and an elementary school daughter. We were all there. Until the company my father worked for decided to shut down the Rochester office and transfer him to Albany.

But that’s another story. This is a story about melding into a community.

We quickly adopted Mendon as our home. There are three things that make a community a Continue Reading “Remembering Father Latus”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Andrea, Betsy Carosa, Carosa and Son, Catholic, Charles Latus, Chris Carosa, Chuck Latus, Dad, Father Latus, Hamlet, Heidi, Kenny, Mary Lee, Mendon, Mendon Community Preschool, Mendon Fireman's Carnival, Mendon Youth Baseball, mom, Monsignor Schnacky, Monsignor Schnacky Players, Pack 105, Pre-Cana, St. Catherine's, wedding

Ode To Fire And Ice (Cream)

By Chris Carosa on April 16, 2024

There he stood, a master of opposing forces. On one hand, he expertly guided his sons through the jungle of alpha manliness. On the other, he showed undying tenderness towards his daughters. He could be a disciplined taskmaster, yet just as quickly turn into a jolly clown.

Through it all, as you drilled deeper into his heart, you discovered the impish smile. He knew his talents and shared them with unrestrained joy. Yet, he also knew his limits, and just as gladly allowed others to shine above him.

He thrived in this dichotomy of opposites, well aware how he could summon them to create a powerful whirlwind of meaning, influence, and steadfast certainty. For him, it wasn’t a philosophical exercise akin to Yin and Yang. No, such a thought would repel him.

Instead, it was the raw energy that percolates in the hearth of real life, forged from the Continue Reading “Ode To Fire And Ice (Cream)”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Dad

Hats Off To Easter!

By Chris Carosa on March 26, 2024

My mother once told me what Easter evokes in her mind. She grew up in Lackawanna “on the other side of the tracks.” She’d work in my grandfather’s grocery store on Ridge Road. During the Easter season, as she walked up Ingham Avenue to her father’s shop, the alluring aroma of ethnic cooking wafted through her nostrils.

Those smells told you what neighborhood you were in—Polish, Italian, and a mixed ethnic conclave of everything from Mexican to Croatian. Even before getting her master’s degree in Home Economics, the teenage version of Lena had a nose for food. The yeasts were her favorite. From them, she could tell what type of bread each kitchen baked.

Arriving at her dad’s mom-and-pop supermarket, she entered an aromatic atmosphere that defined Easter, not just for her, but for nearly everyone of that era. The sweet scents of purple, pink & lavender hyacinths mixed with the perfumes of the tulips and lilies. My grandfather sold these potted flowers each Easter so families could adorn their festive tables with colorful centerpieces.

Fast forward a generation and the smells were still there. Only the tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils aren’t in pots. They’re planted along the front of the house between the sidewalk coming from the front door and the wall of pale yellow bricks. The flowerbed sat just below the four rectangular panel windows that open up to the parlor of the modest raised ranch home of my youth.

It’s funny. I don’t remember the smell of those tulips. I do remember the smell of the Continue Reading “Hats Off To Easter!”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Abbott Parkway, Ben Hur, Blasdell, Blasdell Nursery, Charlton Heston, Dad, Davey and Goliath, Dortmund Circle, Easter, Easter Bread, Fran-n-Ceil's, Ingham Avenue, Kenny, Lackawanna, mom, Palm Sunday, South Park, The Ten Commandments

The Never-Ending Apple Wars of Summer

By Chris Carosa on August 8, 2023

The dynamics between the kids on Abbott Parkway were complex. There was always this “boys against girls” thing.

It started in school. By fourth grade, it got to where boys intercepted notes girls tried to pass to one another. Sometimes the boys would read them. Sometimes the boys would pass them to our teacher, Miss Powell. Miss Powell didn’t take too kindly to note passing.

This tension spilled over to the neighborhood. Several girls from our grade played on the Continue Reading “The Never-Ending Apple Wars of Summer”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Abbott Parkway, Angelo, Apple Wars, Babsie, Cindy, Dad, Debbie, fourth grade, grandpa, Johnny, Karen, Kenny, Markie, Miss Powell, peach tree, Shari

Lunch With Father

By Chris Carosa on June 27, 2023

It was a different time. A different place. Too far back to remember. Too far ahead to imagine.

He was a busy man. Each day, he went to work. But the work never ended. When he left his desk at work, he went right to his desk at home. He was proud of that desk. It was really not much, but it served his purpose. He polished it up regularly, keeping the surface he worked on clean. Beyond that, piles of papers consumed the rest of the surface area. His wife complained about the mess, but he assured her he knew where everything was.

And he did.

If you ventured anywhere near those piles, he quickly admonished you. “Don’t touch anything! You’ll mess up my filing system.”

Not that he didn’t have a proper filing system. It was meticulous. But it was actually easy Continue Reading “Lunch With Father”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Dad

Reflections On The Last Day Of School Past

By Chris Carosa on June 20, 2023

A warm summer day. Cozy warm. Not hot.

The trees and grass twinkle silently in the soft unseen wind, lush from the recent rains. Green. Not that dark green of July. Closer to the lighter greens of the Spring’s new growth.

The bright sun brings out the yellows in that green. But those brilliant rays wash out the sharpness of all color, much like you would see in an overexposed photograph. The effect only brings more tenderness to the scene.

Windows open in the moving school bus allow a gentle breeze to circulate the fresh temperate air.

It’s the last day of school. The last bus ride home. You can feel the excitement. Everyone is Continue Reading “Reflections On The Last Day Of School Past”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team, Anniversary, Bethlehem Steel, Big Tree Fireman's Carnival, birthday, bully, Dad, erie county fair, Ford Stamping Plant, Fourth of July, Fran-n-Ceil's, friends, Ice Cream, Kenny, LAke Shore Road, last day of school, Mike Eruzione, Miracle, peace treaty, Route 5, school bus, strawberries, summer vacation, Tom Tomaka, Woodlawn Elementary

Spaghetti & Tuna Fish

By Chris Carosa on March 7, 2023

Long ago, before Vatican II, before the FBI targeted Catholics as domestic terrorists, before many of our readers were even born, McDonald’s had a problem. Only they didn’t realize how big of a problem.

That realization would be left to a single franchise owner in Ohio. On January 13, 1959, Lou Groen opened his McDonald’s in Monfort Heights, Ohio. It was the first Golden Arches to appear in the Cincinnati metropolitan area.

You probably didn’t know this, but at that time Catholics represented about 87% of Monfort Heights’ population. And they were good, practicing Catholics. Old-time Catholics. (You know. Toe Blake, Dit Clapper, Eddie Shore. Those guys were the greats!)

Vatican II was still several years away, and Groen noticed something quite discouraging about his new venture. “On Friday, we only took in about $75 a day,” he said.

That was a problem. A big problem.

After researching what the Big Boys chain did, Groen approached McDonald’s owner Ray Kroc (who was very approachable then) and proposed the idea of selling a fish sandwich. The usually astute Kroc did something he rarely did. He made the wrong decision. He Continue Reading “Spaghetti & Tuna Fish”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Butera, Catholic, Cincinnati, Dad, depression, Dit Clapper, Eddie Shore, Filet-O-Fish, fish fry, fried bologna, Good Friday, grandma, grandpa, Hula Burger, Lent, lentil soup, Lou Groen, McDonald's, mom, Monfort Heights, Ohio, pizza, Pope John, Ray Kroc, Ridge Road, Salvator's Pizzeria, Sonny, spaghetti, Toe Blake, tuna fish, Vatican II

Adventures In White Knuckle Driving

By Chris Carosa on February 22, 2022

This past weekend reminded me there’s a good reason why I stopped scheduling travel meetings during the winter.

It didn’t always used to be this way.

In the time before Covid, unusual was the week when I did not put on several hundred miles of business meetings. I find riding for an hour (or more) relaxing. I’ve got a huge library of college-level lectures on a variety of subjects. (As the price for an intensive virtually triple major in the hard sciences, my college major left little room for electives.)

The destination also (usually) excited me, too. Either a conference to learn more and meet Continue Reading “Adventures In White Knuckle Driving”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Angola, Batavia, Betsy, Blasdell, blizzard, Blizzard of 1999, Buffalo, Cesidia, Chili, Christmas Eve, Dad, Dodge Charger, hamburg, Jamestown, Kenny, lake effect, learning to drive, Monroe County, Nor'easter, Rochester, Sabres, Seven Fishes, snow, Thruway, Uncle Larry

What’s Your Dream? (Here’s How To Capture It)

By Chris Carosa on January 18, 2022

The original vision that was my “sure winner” in the Florence Brasser art contest. It didn’t win. Then. But The Vision ultimately prevailed.

You have a dream. It may be new. It may have been lingering in the back of your mind for years. Either way, you have a dream.

And it’s compelling.

If you’re like most people, you’re wondering “How can I achieve this dream?” If you’re ambitious (and who isn’t?), you’re wondering, “How can I accomplish my LIFETIME Dream?”

Many years ago, I wrote a column about an ironic first-place award I received in an art contest (see, “Sometimes Second Best Turns Out To Be the Very Best,” Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, March 20, 2016).

I say “ironic” because the winning drawing was a throwaway picture not meant for the Continue Reading “What’s Your Dream? (Here’s How To Capture It)”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Abruzzi, Dad, Florence Brasser, Fontecchio, grandfather, Kenny, L'Aquila, Lifetime Dream, three mountains

The Italian-American Triumvirate: #2 – Country

By Chris Carosa on October 12, 2021

As mentioned last week, October is Italian-American Heritage Month. Not only do we take a day (either the original October 12 or the second Monday) to celebrate Christopher Columbus, the Italian that most influenced America, but, like other ethnic groups, we spend the entire month honoring those who immigrated to the United States centuries after the first Italian discovered a brand new world.

This is the second in a series of columns on “the Big Three,” the three institutions that, though they to some extent describe all Americans, speak especially to the cultural heritage of Italian-Americans.

Recall the meaning of “Italian-American.” It represents an acknowledgment that you are Continue Reading “The Italian-American Triumvirate: #2 – Country”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Abruzzi, Accadia, Al Smith, American, Antonin Scalia, Apennine, Apollo, bigotry, Bing Crosby, Carosa, Columbus, Dad, Dominic Salvatore Gentile, Eddie Rickenbacker, Ernest Borgnine, Fontecchio, Frank Sinatra, Gemini, immigrant, Italian, Italian American, Italy, Joe DiMAggio, Jr., L'Aquila, Mercury, NASA, Rome, Rudolph Valentino, Samuel Anthony Alito, Serradifalco, Sicily, Walter M. Schirra, World War II, Yankee Clipper