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"My name is engraved in the Sistine Chapel" I remember her telling me once proudly.  The Sistine Chapel as in THE Sistine Chapel... of Michelangelo fame... in Rome.  Actually, I believe she meant that her name is engraved under the dome above the main altar in the Basilica of St. Peter's, which the Sistine Chapel is a part of.  The language of the church is Latin, and the word Fides means Faith in Latin.  Fides is also a deity, actually; she is the goddess of trust and good faith. Nonna would explain the pronunciation of her name ... "Fee-Diss - NOT Fee-tuss... as in an unborn baby" when she was introduced to new people.  Apparently hearing, understanding, and properly articulating her name, even amongst other Italians, was difficult.  I only saw her a few times a year at most.  They lived a few moons up the coast and it was almost an all-day affair to reach them.  ...

      I was near the end of her long line of grandchildren; eighth out of eleven.  By the time I came along she was 66 years old.  Her parents and husband had long passed, her brothers had both moved North and her four children had scattered to different ends of the earth or, as they may have liked to say on the farm, "flown the coop".   A city girl gone country could have been one way they described her?  Hmmm... well, Dassel, Minnesota was not exactly a boom town when she was growing up in the early years of the 20th century.  With her 8th grade education she moved fifty miles away from her family home to Minneapolis, and went to work as a maid for a doctor and his family.  She had to do this in order to support her little sister, Ella, who had been deemed the caretaker for their ailing mother.  It was there, in Minneapolis, that she met the...

You wannu know what the Very Best Part about growing up is? Hopefully you do, because I'm going to tell you!! It's changing. The VBP about growing up is changing... evolving... learning!... sharing!! When we grow, we change... and in order to change we have to learn. In order to learn we have to think. In order to think we have to comprehend. Do you want to know what the most unfortunate trait a human being could have is? The inability to learn - this drastically hinders the ability to grow! You can tell me something about something that has nothing to do with my beliefs. Perhaps you believe that the solar system is vast? Maybe you think that worms don't live below your feet? You might ponder whether or not the earth really is round...? Next time this type of conversation takes place - PLEASE - take a moment to listen.  Take a moment to hear. Make that person you are speaking to feel important! Let them have dignity and courage! Be at...

DBR... no... A DBR.... huh?  I officially proclaim that the Amazing Doors By Russ company needs to be formed!  One of my first impressions was that he seemed like a nice "Southern boy"...   He has this sweet twang in his voice.  What I eventually came to learn was that he was from California... Southern California!  Everyone hates Californians, don't they?!  What?  Did I say that?  haha - only jokingly of course - it's just that, there is a stigma that seems to come with being a Californian, right?  Sophistication or Surfer dude...  the different aura he had was apparent, but I wasn't sure exactly why.  Turns out he grew up as a desert rat... not as a hippie dude surfer or movie star... but in a small military based town near Death Valley.  He grew up as a nice mannered kid with a couple of brothers, lots of friends, fun outdoor activities and interesti...