From Mafia Boss to the Cross

I barely remember as a little boy. I was three years old. Mussolini gave my father greetings and they had a meeting on top of the mountain. He declared to my father, "Antonio, we've been friends for many, many years. Surrender to the Germans and you will not be destroyed." My father had over 300 soldiers with him. We were given three hours to make a decision to surrender peacefully or escape. My family was faithful and patriotic to Italy. My father did not surrender to the will of the Germans. As proud Italians we had no choice but to run to the hills. The next 3 years, as I remember, we spent in caves while the war was going on. The German troops cut ALL the supply lines from the American soldiers who were already occupying Sicily.

The Marines got word to my father that they were in need of supplies and my father became a champion and a leader. He rushed to the rescue and he began to smuggle trucks full of food and all kinds of fruit, rice, and vegetables into the American camps. All of my family were considered heroes to the Americans. As a matter of fact one of these Marines, Ed Welch, fell in love with my mothers' sister and two years later he married her. He was a strong American hero and through him we obtained many favors. After the war we redeemed the land but there was no food left and no money. Everything was destroyed and there was a famine in the land. I remember that when I was five years old, I weighed 18 pounds. I was real skinny since I had not had any food for 12 days. My father finally contacted someone that had bread so he sold 90% of our property. He sold everything except for the castle which we lived in. He signed over the title to the land for three pounds of bread. Today the land is valued at billions of dollars. In 1945 we began to cultivate the land yet it was very difficult. We never recovered the wealth and prestige we had before. Instead, we lost it all and at seven years old I was adopted by my Godfather, Giovanni La Rosa. This man was our neighbor and he kept his land and a small castle on six acres of land where they raised me up. They took me in as their own son. Dear reader, through wars nobody wins except for satan, and lives are destroyed and changed forever.