Gratitude Project

When returning to the USA from living in Europe, one of the first things I noticed was the proud display of American flags. Not only on civic buildings, as is usual in European countries, but on homes, cars, displays of many kinds. All representing the honor we Americans feel to live in the greatest country in the world

My Italian grandparents came through Ellis Island, leaving their homeland where there was little opportunity to own property or escape the life of working for a landlord. in Oregon, my grandfather started a fruit truck from scratch and drove around neighborhoods selling produce. That little fruit truck was his path to buying his first property… then a second… then he bought buildings. He exceeded his dreams beyond imagination, thanks to America.

My dad grew up dirt poor from two alcoholic parents with all the odds stacked against him in life. He lied about his age to get into the Navy. Some of my earliest memories are of us living in a tiny trailer, with dad and pregnant mom sleeping on a single bed and me sleeping on a shelf. Between school and his evening job, Dad would stop at the city dump and recover whatever lumber he could find, to build our first house, a 20×24 single room. His amazing resourcefulness over the decades made him millions and a modern American Dream rags-to-riches story. In America we can achieve the impossible.