emilio "chick" dede
today is sort of a checkpoint in my life.
on november 17, 1996 my grandfather died.
his name was emilio but for some strange reason, he was nicknamed "chick".
anyways my mother's father and mother both died before i was born.
my father's mother died 3 months after i was born, so i do not remember her.
but the only grandparent i remember is chick.
chick almost died of the scarlet fever as an infant.
they had an infant casket picked out for him.
he lived to be 91 years old.
chick almost died of the scarlet fever as an infant.
they had an infant casket picked out for him.
he lived to be 91 years old.
he lived in brooklyn, in the house my great-grandfather built upon immigrating from italy.
my dad grew up in that house too.
i know that he was a huge brooklyn dodgers fan and a huge new york (football) giants fan.
most of my childhood, he was somewhat heartbroken and senile.
his wife of like 40 years had died right after i was born.
he kind of lost it after that.
my favorite chick story happened before i was born.
he used to feed neighborhood cats.
like 20 of them.
my grandmother was ready to leave him because he loved the cats so much.
so my parents got all 20 cats into the trunk of their car.
and left the cats somewhere.
but my grandmother was so mad because my grandfather would take care of all the cats by feeding them.
and if the cats were sick, he would put... vick's vapor rub on their throats.
classic.
my favorite chick story happened before i was born.
he used to feed neighborhood cats.
like 20 of them.
my grandmother was ready to leave him because he loved the cats so much.
so my parents got all 20 cats into the trunk of their car.
and left the cats somewhere.
but my grandmother was so mad because my grandfather would take care of all the cats by feeding them.
and if the cats were sick, he would put... vick's vapor rub on their throats.
classic.
i remember he stayed over for one christmas and we all woke up because something was burning in the middle of the night. apparently, he was cold so he was heating up his underwear in the stove. (at this point though he was like in his late 80s.)
so it's been 12 years since someone i really loved or cared about died.
actually scratch that.
i was so pressed about going on a date with my girlfriend in 7th grade that i was pissed my grandfather's death ruined that.
and i wasn't upset that he died.
until...
until the pallbearers were carrying him out of the church and i broke down uncontrollably.
could. not. stop. crying.
i was 12 when he died.
12 years have past.
i'm 24 now.
"chick" is still the greatest nickname ever.