Memories of Pop and Lolo Beto

We remember lots of memories in life that happened a long time ago. Dad told me about his father because he meant a lot to my Dad. Dad told me about what happened to his father and things they used to do together. It all started with dad at work on a terrible day. Dad was at the office and said he always lent his car to my Dad. While Dad was driving home from work he saw me saying "you're home early today". A little bit later his brother came over to tell us about what happened to Pop. He told me to go into grandma's room because it would be too mature for me. So they talked and my Dad asked is his father OK. They said something terrible happened to his father. He asked what happened? I don't want to tell you what happened though. I came back in and I heard that Dad was crying and I was wondering why. Then Dad told my mom and she was crying too. I still was curious. I asked mom why she was crying. She said because something horrible happened to Pop. I was feeling sorry for them and I started to cry too. That was because I felt sad for Pop. About a few days later Dad asked me if I wanted to come to say goodbye to Pop and I told him I was too scared to go because of what happened to him.

About a month later we went to the Holy Road Cemetery to visit Pop and say hello. I asked Dad what section we had to go to when we saw Pop and he said to look for section 30. I got curious about all the sections in the cemetery and I asked Dad how many sections there were in there. He thought there were about 50 sections in there. I made a Google search for that cemetery and it said there were only 34 sections in there. Now the last time I went there I was crying because I didn't want to go because I thought there were monsters and ghosts in there. I was acting like a little boy again. One day I was crying because I felt sad for my father's parents. I felt like a baby again and I was playing dead. My parents knew I was awake. That is the story of what happened to Pop.

My mom, grandmother, and I remember a lot of things about Lolo Beto (my 2nd grandfather). We remember when he first visited here to see us in the United States. He said hello and my grandmother said he is shy, he can speak some of English, and sometimes can't hear us. I remember he tickled me just like my grandma does. Sometimes I played with him and I tickled him. Sometimes he rested on some days when he was tired. On other days he would like to read a book about the World War II and the book about the Verrazano Bridge that Pop worked on. I know that the person who wrote it was Gay Talese. Sometimes we talked together and I asked him about what he did in his home place. He loves reading so he reads books very often. One day I taught him about the microwave and he set it to about 80 minutes and I stopped the microwave and cleared it and then I told him not to do that because that could cause a fire. One night we said goodbye to him, gave him some money for him, wished him good luck, and told him we would never forget him. We dropped him off at the JFK Airport and said goodbye for the last time. I felt like I was going to cry because I would miss him. We all went home sadly and thought about him. And that is the story about the memories we had with Lolo. Those sure were good times. Right now we still miss him and we will never forget him. I will always remember him and love him forever and ever and for the rest of my life.

Right now these memories take me back in time to like 2007, 2008, or early 2009. These things mean a lot to me and they make me happy and make me wonder why these events happened. I will always remember those times and will always love them.

We will never forget you Pop! We love you forever and ever!
We will never forget you too Lolo because we love you and always will!


Matty Iannielli
Helped by Teresa N. Gonzales (my grandmother)