5.

When the family got together, there was always somebody who was watchin’ their weight. A lotta times there’d be half a grapefruit or melon, some cottage cheese, and crackers instead of bread on the table for when our grandmother, mothers, or aunts were on some kinda yo-yo diet. Our grandmother, she was one of Weight Watchers’ first members. If she wasn’t cookin’ up something for the family, she’d be boilin’ some cabbage in a can of tomato soup for herself. Sometimes she’d even allow herself a potato and throw that in there too. Or a hot dog. One cousin even had her jaw wired shut to lose some weight. (Back then it was like their version of Lap-Band surgery.) But the thing was, she’d be puttin’ filet mignon and potatoes in a blender and drinkin’ it through a straw. She almost killed herself that way, too, but a few years later? She did it again. For the rest of the family, though, losin’ a little weight didn’t necessarily mean boiled cabbage and steak in a blender. When we or Uncle Tommy or Uncle Greg wanted to knock off a coupla pounds, we’d just make somethin’ a little lighter, but no less delicious. As we liked to say, “What’s less calories than a sandwich? Half a sandwich.”

Grandpa Dominick (second from right) with his cousins in Italy.

Grandma Connie