“Mercy and truth have met each other: justice and peace have kissed. Truth is sprung out of the earth: and justice hath looked down from heaven. For the Lord will give goodness; and our earth shall yield her fruit.  Justice shall walk before him: and shall set his steps in the way.”  Psalm 84: 11-14

When my parents moved to Texas one of the first things they did was cultivate the soil in the backyard for a beautiful and bountiful garden. They planted fruit trees throughout the yard and grape vines over a beautiful arbor. When my parents lived in Massachusetts they did not plant fig, apricot or olive trees because of the harsher climate. However in Texas with the warmer climate my father was so pleased to plant and grow figs which are a family favorite.  And not long after the move to Texas my dad also planted an olive tree which reminded him of Italy. He took tender care of the olive tree and his gardens. My mom would often send care packages with all kinds of goodies from home. And they usually included fresh grapefruits, oranges, herbs and delightful treats from their garden. When my father died his olive tree was 19 years old and had grown into a most beautiful and sturdy tree, great for shade and for firm ripe olives. And as we later found out, one of the oldest olive trees of record in South Texas. Friends from the school in San Antonio where my sister Anna worked had a tree planted in our dad’s memory. That is where Anna met Sandy, proprietor of Sandy Oaks Olive Orchard. When it came time to sell my parents house one of the hardest things was leaving the gardens, olive and fruit trees. So when my sister Anna suggested that we donate the tree. We loved the idea. We donated the tree to Sandy. It was only fitting that Daddy’s tree should continue to be cared for and loved as he so gently cared for it over the years. Sandy came to my dad’s house and transplanted and transported the tree to her Olive Ranch. In her generous spirit of kindness and hospitality she also transplanted some of my dad’s fruit trees to my sister Irma and my brother Jack’s house, both who lived just a few miles from my dad’s so that his fruit trees could continue to thrive under their loving care.   Irma has daddy's lemon tree and Jack has his grapefruit tree and they are producing fruit beautifully. A few years ago my brother sent me a care package of grapefruits from daddy's tree, you can see them in the pictures above.  The Olive tree has been settled in at Sandy Oaks now for a number of years and the tree is doing well and thriving under the loving attention and care of Sandy. It has a special place of honor in a garden next to her house and it continues to grow big and strong. There is a little bench right next to the tree and we have been given an open invitation to visit anytime. The world is full of the goodness of the Lord!!

"So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation, everything old has passed away, look, new things have come into being."            2 Corinthians 5:17

When my parents came to the United States they brought thier traditions with them.  We had fruit trees, a big vegetable garden, rose gardens and a wine cellar and kitchen in the basement where my dad my dad made wine every year.  I loved helping him.  My parents would fry crispelli's for the holidays and food for Sunday dinners in the basement kitchen.  They did the food shopping together and then would come home and make homemade sausages, cutlets, pasta, you name it.  Daddy cured his own meats, you had to duck under the prociutto to get in to the garage.  Big Sunday dinners lasted all day with relatives coming in from Boston and around the corner.  Our family home was always open, and you never walked in without being greeted by a feast that would appear as you made your way to the table.  And you never left hungry or empty handed.  And that applied to anyone who came to the house, if you came to fix someting or were doing work on the house my parents would feed you and then send you home with food for your family and a bottle of daddy's wine.  Everyone loved daddy's wine.  Every year a truck would arrive from Boston with a bed full of grapes.  Thats when the process would begin.  I loved helping daddy with the wine.  Mommy would make her marmalade with some of the grapes for her holiday cookies and the bulk of the grapes would be for daddy's wine.  He made red and white wine.  I was in my early 20's when I learned that daddy had put aside a barrel of wine that he made the year I was born.  He hid it in the back of the "little room" that is what we called the wine cellar. No one knew except him and my mother that he had it stored there. He made it for my wedding day.  My sisters and brother were born in Itlay and he could not bring his wine here for them for thier wedding days when they traveled here by boat. But I was born here and I was born late in life to them, when my mom was 40, and at that time it wasn't like it was today when women have children well into thier 40's. I was an unexpected surprise, a change of life baby and my parents were delighted.  And so daddy made wine and put it aside for my wedding day.  And when they moved from New England to Texas he brought the wine with him.  And he still kept it a secret until I was getting married.  That is when I and the rest of the family found out he had been holding onto the wine all that time.   Years later I spent a few hours with Daddy and asked him to take me through his wine making process.  For the record, when he moved to Texas he still had wine deliverd and he also was able to have his own crop of grapes from his grape arbor witth the milder climate.

Many years later, my neice Chrissy started Martin Ulisse Wine. She was importing wines from our cousins and the local cooperatives in Abruzzo and had a fantastic line of wines.  That we all always called Daddy's wine.