It’s my birthday!

Birthdays are fun: cake, ice cream, presents and family.  On one particular birthday, when we were still living in Carteret, the entire family gathered as usual to celebrate my special day.  I was sitting at the head of the table; my brother-in-law Michael was sitting at the opposite end of the table. Michael, the practical joker that he is, decided to make a derogatory comment about teachers. Since my blood was boiling from hearing Michael’s comment, I wasn’t about to allow that comment to be ignored. So I took a huge scoop of whipped cream from my cake and flung it across the table towards Michael. I must have been a good shot because the whipped cream hit him smack dab in the middle of the forehead! After a period of  histerical laughter, Michael said I had gotten whipped cream on my new brown dining room carpet.  My reply: it was totally worth the shot! 1 point for me; 0 points for Michael.

It is a tradition in the family that Thanksgiving Dinner is at Rose & Joe’s home.  We have hosted Thanksgiving dinner every year since we were married in 1970.  It began with just Rose’s parents and then expanded year  after year to include more of the family.

During the early years of our marriage when we lived our home in Carteret, the family included mostly Rose’s “Ciaccio” family plus Rose’s parents and Joe’s parents and brothers and of course our daughter Rosalie. The “Ciaccio’s” would arrive early from New York where they lived (Uncle Joe, Adeline, and their son Jimmy, Uncle Jim and Aunt Irene, Uncle Mike, Uncle Andrew and Helen, and their daughter Carmela).  We would start with appetizers and Uncle Joe’s “bloody mary” drinks. It would then continue with a full dinner beginning with a turkey soup course, followed by the traditional thanksgiving feast with turkey and all the trimmings. Later it moved to the dessert course and finally to the large variety of liquors that Uncle Joe gave to us from his ship’s ports of call.   The day went from around 10 am to 9 pm and of course everything was home made by Rose and her mom.

As the Ciaccio family passed away, Thanksgiving became smaller with only Rose, Joe, Rosalie, Rose’s mom, Joe’s Dad, Mike and Rick.  For many of these years Fr. Dave Brown from St. Joseph’s church would join us for dinner.  He was so comfortable being here and everyone enjoyed his presence. One year we especially remember is when Fr. Brown was released from the hospital on Thanksgiving day and still made to our home for the Thanksgiving dinner  tradition.  Of course he sat in a chair and fell asleep between courses but who could blame him.

The Thanksgiving Dinner then began to slowly grow as Mike married Tammy and Rick married Patty and starting having their children (Kristin, Jackie, Dana, and Mark).  It stayed this size for many years until the Rick’s children started having their own families.

Photo from Thanksgiving during the 1980’s in Carteret.  Shown are
Marge, Dom, Tammy, Mike, Fr. Brown

Now, it has grown once again to include all the Ragucci clan including Rosalie’s family, Kristin, Jackie,  and Dana’s family, Rick’s wife Debbie, and the other family changes that have happened over time.

Photo from Thanksgiving 2016 in Edison.  Shown are the whole Ragucci clan in the sunroom.