Becky is halfway through with the growing of the baby, and we found out last week that she’ll be having a girl. Possibly a little later than June 15, but we’ll be able to pinpoint the date a little better next month with a second ultrasound to see how the baby is growing.

So excited to meet our little girl!

As many of you already know, my grandfather passed away last Tuesday at 95. I have many thoughts about Nonno that I was honored to share as I gave his eulogy on January 15. Though bittersweet, I enjoyed talking with my sister and brother about some recent memories, reliving old memories, and even learning a little bit of Italian for him.

As sad as it is that we have let him go, we have hope in the way God has designed the circle of life. It was the very next day as the plane landed in Salt Lake City, that Becky felt the baby kick for the first time. The baby has been active the last few days. Just a little reminder that God has given strength to those he loves for times such as these.

For those who were blessed and encouraged by the words of the eulogy, or for those who were not in attendance, the video and text of the eulogy are after the pictures:

If Nonno had one dying wish that had to do with the funeral, I’m sure it would have been for the eulogy to be given in Italian. Unfortunately I took German in high school. But I’ll see what I can do.

On behalf of my grandmother, Bruna, my parents, Mike & Diana, my sister Stephanie, my brother David, my wife Becky and my sister-in-law Angelina, I want to thank you all for attending this afternoon to celebrate the life of my grandfather, Gino Secco.

I have been blessed to have shared the name Gino with him. In college, I went by my middle name and explained to everyone that Gino was also the name of my grandfather. To this day, many of my friends call me Gino, but Nonno would call me Ginetto which translates to “Little Gino,” because he was, afterall, the original.

It is very easy to mourn and be sad when someone close to you passes away. On Tuesday after Mom called to tell me of his passing, I was talking with a friend of mine in my office about him. She said that the memories we have of him is what will allow him to become immortal. So that’s what I’d like to share with you now.

Nonno was all about teaching his grandchildren life lessons. To me, he was inspirational, because he and I shared a passion for creating art. You all have likely seen all of his extraordinary paintings, sketches and carvings that decorated our homes for years and will decorate them for years to come.

He was my art teacher before I had an art teacher. When I was a cub scout in my early years, he taught me how a block of wood like this could become an awesome looking pinewood derby race car like this. He would take me through the process of properly sharpening a knife, sketching what I wanted the car to look like, carving it and painting it. Nonno never claimed engineering skills, and my car never won the pinewood derby. But I also never cut off my fingers, so thank you Nonno… lesson learned.

For all of the life lessons that he taught me, there is one particular word that I heard Nonno say more than any other word throughout most of my childhood. That word is “checkmate.”

Nonno taught my brother and I how to play chess. He taught us the fundamentals and strategies, and as we began our grandfather-grandson rivalry, he went on an amazing unbeaten streak that lasted at least a decade.

In my defense, he actually knew what he was doing and had at least 50 years of experience before me. In fact, looking back on it, his dominance over me would be equivalent of a 12-year-old little leaguer pitching to Babe Ruth. I simply didn’t stand a chance.

It was either sympathy or disgust that led him into buying me my first book about chess. I can’t exactly remember the title, but I think it was something like, “Make Your Grandfather Proud and Learn to Play Chess Like a Man”.

Not too long after reading the book cover to cover, I got my first victory against Nonno using a Fool’s Mate pattern I had read in the book. It only took me three moves. My dad stands by the theory that Nonno would have never fallen into that particular trap and essentially let me have the game to boost my confidence. But Nonno frustratingly conceded defeat and demanded we reset to play again. He then went on to humble me in a game that didn’t last much longer. So again, thank you Nonno… lesson learned.

Nonno was a master chef to us, and much of how we learned to cook was inspired by him. He taught Stephanie how to make crostata in high school, which she has brought to every party she’s gone to for the last five years. Maybe it’s because of her inability to cook anything else (I’m kidding, Steph).

When we were younger, Nonno would introduce us to delicious foods like rabbit (though Dave refused to eat it because he told him it was the Easter Bunny). Steph remembers making octopus with him recently. She had no idea that a huge octopus would only produce a little meat, and that so much of an octopus was inedible. Nonno suggested maybe octopus is not worth making because it’s so exhausting. Thank you, Nonno… lesson learned.

The spirit of competition was always alive in Nonno. His favorite sport was soccer. His favorite soccer team was Genoa. His favorite soccer player was probably David because I wasn’t that good.

He loved to play cards and we loved to play with him. Most recently, Nonno and I teamed up against our wives at the card game Scopa. We lost the game, but Nonno never admitted defeat. Instead, he looked at me, threw up his arms and went “Ehhh.”

When I met my wife, Becky, Nonno and Nonna welcomed her into the family almost immediately after they met her. As Becky and I’s relationship developed, we spent lots of time with Nonno and Nonna, and discovered the kind of love that could exist between a man and his wife for so long. He married Nonna in 1952 and they have been married for 58 years. Becky and I will celebrate our 6-year anniversary in a few months and are encouraged by the love that they had for each other until they were parted by death. A marriage can only be so lucky. Lesson learned.

Stephanie was pondering moments about Nonno the last few days and noted that Nonno spent the later part of his life developing the talents that we remember him for. He had not picked up a paintbrush or carving knife until well after he retired, which judging from the quality of his work seems impossible. It is easy to become overwhelmed by all the things you want to accomplish in life, because culture suggests you need to accomplish everything while you’re still young. Nonno debunked that myth at least 40 years ago.

When I was younger, Nonno and Nonna made annual trips to visit us from Maryland. Each trip, I taught Nonno a little more about how to use a computer, and every time he visited us, he would spend hours at the computer typing what he told me was his life story. When the internet became more mainstream and easier to use, we taught him how to use it as well. And then he got email. And then he got an iMac and began using video chat to talk to us in Denver, New York, Rhode Island, and was even able to video chat with his friends and relatives in Italy.

He never stopped learning, and was particularly interested in today’s technology and was always determined to accomplish more with it. At 95, Nonno was probably the oldest man to have a Facebook page, though he probably never understood how “social networking” was anything besides getting together with his friends at the Italian Club or the Sandy Senior Center.

He loved his friends at the Italian Club and the Senior Center. I’m sure he loved to tell you all about his family, but I want you to know how much he loved to talk about all of you to us. He told us all about how the Italian Club was referred to as “I quiatro gatti”, the four cats. He was so proud to be part of such a great circle of friends.

I was talking with my brother last night, and he pointed out how sharp Nonno was at such a late age. Dave sat down to play chess with him the day after Christmas and defeated him quickly in the first game. Dave thought that perhaps Nonno wasn’t able to play chess as well as he used to. Nonno followed up by humbling Dave the next three games.

Dave played for me a voicemail Nonno left for him last Sunday that he still had on his phone, and he wanted me to play it for everyone…

Nonno never lost it. He continued teaching life lessons to his great grandson, Ethan, who was 8 months old when they met last Christmas. Nonno was teaching Ethan the melody “Here Comes the Bride” as he held him for a half an hour. It was inspiring how happy they both were.

Nonno was also learning as much as he could about this world before he left it. A few weeks ago I was making salmon and potatoes for the entire family and Nonno stood next to me attentively and asked questions about what I was doing, how I was doing it, and why I was doing it. The entire time I was thinking that he surely had made salmon and potatoes a hundred times before. But I learned that for all the lessons he taught us in our lives, we taught him just as much. So for the final time – thank you Nonno… lesson learned.

Earlier I mentioned that he would have wanted his eulogy spoken in Italian. I’m sorry I was never able to learn Italian, but I hope that this will do.

Nonno, grazie per tutte le lezioni di vita che hai insegniato a tutti noi. Grazie per l’incoraggiamento nell’arte, la cottura, il calcio e l’amore. Soprattutto, grazie per essere un nonno che potrevo amirare. Lo manci già. Ciao.

If you haven’t figured out from the title of this blog, didn’t receive a Christmas letter from us (our bad), or you haven’t been on Facebook in the past month or so, we’re happy to announce that we’re expecting our first child in June. The following are pictures we took to commemorate the event:

(The next one is a little blurry but worth posting):

We’re very excited about the prospects of becoming parents. We also fully understand the implication that once we become parents, we will no longer receive gifts for ourselves, but rather for our baby. In fact, at just 4 months into the pregnancy, it’s already begun (yes, I’m wearing the bib, but only because I think it’s cute):

While we were in Salt Lake City for Christmas, we were able to visit with our nephew Ethan, who is about 8 months old. To prove that we are fit to become parents, here are some pictures of Ethan having a ridiculous blast with his aunt and uncle:

My sister, however, not so much. (just kidding, love ya Steph!):

Speaking of my sister, here we are flashing Christmas gang signs:

And here is Becky with Angelina and Steph:

Finally, I end this quality blog post with a public service announcement:
No matter the circumstances, never, ever eat the baby.