Extraordinary Souls I Have Known

By Valérie Falzo

Life is a journey of learning and transformation, driven by a series of introductions to a myriad of people. People who influence that life in one way or another, who inspire and instill values, giving one the tools necessary for this very important journey. Extraordinary Souls I Have Known is a loving and authentic commentary, a lesson in the ways in which many people from different backgrounds, different philosophies, and different ideas about life can converge and contribute to the development of a solitary life that in some way, represents them all.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 13, 2020
• ISBN: 9781646706075

Book preview

Mom and Dad

1. Overview

Mom and Dad: Their first years.

Mom and Dad were as loving a couple for parents as anyone could have asked for.

They reigned over a household whose perpetual motto was The More The Merrier.

They taught us much, but perhaps the most valuable lesson was the love, respect, and kindness that they extended to others, not the least of which was that no matter how little we had, there was always room for one more at our table, any table.

Their legacy is what real legacy is. It is not how much money a person has, the number of stadiums or buildings that bear one’s name or the name of a corporation, the expensive car one drives or the enormous power that a person wields that allows ultimate control. It is, however, what Mom and Dad has left each and every one of us; from their children, to family, to friends and to the people that they shared their warm smiles with as they passed them on the street, known or unknown.

To Mom and Dad, music was always very important, and as a result, they exposed us to all kinds of music. From Montovani, Mario Lanza (Dad loved him), and Broadway musicals to the greats like Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Perry Como, Eddie Arnold, and of course, Johnny Cash, and Patsy Cline.

One of Dad’s most favorite pieces of music was Richard Rodgers’ Victory at Sea and when I was a junior in high school, I played in The New York State School Music Association Competition Festival Band (say that three times fast). This was a concert involving a band, an orchestra, and a chorus comprised of students from all across New York State. The orchestra played Victory at Sea as one of its selections and Dad was overwhelmed.

Dancing was another passion shared by Mom and Dad; a trait which, like music, they passed on to all of us.

As a result of this passion, they were accomplished dancers. When they were on the dance floor, it was like watching one person dance. They would go to weddings, and when they got up to dance, people already dancing would back up to the side and watch them.

This dancing as one person also extended into the home, for they danced as one when it came to discipline. We learned fast from an early age that we could not use the Divide and Conquer technique with Mom and Dad. Not that we did not try. Inevitably, whomever you were talking with about wanting to do something would ask, What did your mother say or what did your father say? Of course, your word was not taken as gospel when you stated that Mom or Dad said OK. There was the let’s go ask phase of the interrogation and then you knew that your goose was cooked and, in some instances, burnt to a crisp!

Mom & Dad at Pam & Chuck’s Wedding

The Wedding Ceremony

Mr. & Mrs. James E. Falzo

2. The Beginning

Mom and Dad went to Watervliet High School in Watervliet, New York, where they met. However, neither finished high school.

Dad was born on September 16, 1928, in Danby, Vermont, to James and Cristie (Jenkins) Falzo. He had one sister, Grace, who was the oldest (we called her Aunt Dade) and two brothers, Frank and Wallace. Dad was the youngest and was baptized James Edward Falzo. Even though my grandfather’s name was James Victor, everyone in Danby called Dad Junior even though he was not. I must add that Dad hated being called Junior.

Dad and his family lived in Danby until Grandpa Falzo was able to get a job at the Watervliet Arsenal at which time he moved his family to Watervliet, New York.

Mom was born on November 8, 1932, to Caroline Quackenbush Scranton (which was Election Day and the year that Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to the first of his four terms to the US Presidency). She was baptized Joan Caroline Scranton, the oldest of five children followed by three sisters: Myrtle (named after Nana), Gertrude (Trudy), Linda, and one brother, Harry.

Mom was twelve years old when her father abandoned the family. Aunt Linda, the youngest, was one year old. Because my grandmother needed to work, my great-grandparents (Grandma’s parents) helped with the family both financially and in nurturing.

In spite of her difficult circumstances, Mom grew into the most loving, nurturing woman I have ever known. Her inner strength was surpassed only by the love she had for all of us.

Dad’s version of how he met Mom was classic Jim Falzo. I was walking down the alley with some friends near Joan’s house and her grandmother (Nana to us) shotgun in hand, asked Joan which one she wanted. She pointed to me and the next thing I knew, I woke up on their couch! Of course, that was not true. He actually woke up on the living room floor—just kidding.

Regardless of how they met, Mom and Dad were married on June 17, 1949. Dad was twenty, Mom was sixteen. She was seventeen when I was born. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Mom was pregnant for me when they married. However, there is no doubt anywhere in my mind that they loved each other very deeply as reflected in the mutual respect that they showed toward each other for the fifty-seven years that they were married. The photo taken of the last wedding anniversary that they celebrated reveals all that and more in the loving gaze with which Mom looked at Dad.

Recently, a friend of mine, Eileen (my best friend in nursing school), told me that when she and her husband were going to pre-marriage counseling, that the priest asked her what she would like her marriage to be like. Eileen said to me, You know, Val, because my dad died when I was so young, I did not have my parents’ marriage to emulate and so, I told the priest that I wanted my marriage to be like Mr. and Mrs. Falzo’s.

I was so proud of Mom and Dad. I felt honored and lucky to have had them for my parents. I thanked Eileen for sharing that with me.

Mom & Dad at one of the many weddings they attended

3. Dad

Dad relaxing in Yard at 1 Railroad Avenue

Dad started working in the jewelry trade when he was thirteen, cutting and grinding crystals to replace in watches at the Troy Watch Hospital in Troy, New York. Later, he started learning other aspects of the trade such as repairing watches, repairing jewelry, engraving with a machine as well as designing and manufacturing jewelry. All knowledge and capabilities that would serve him well when he would open his jewelry store.

Dad continued working in various jewelry establishments until he had the opportunity to work at the Watervliet Arsenal as Grandpa had done. He worked there until 1963, when he decided to take the risk and he opened his own jewelry store.

It was a family business in the truest sense. We all worked there at some time or another. I started doing the engraving at age thirteen and did so until I started nursing school. Then, my brother, Glenn took that over. My cousin, Dana, my brother, Glenn, my brother-in-law, Chuck and Dad did the jewelry repairs and designs taught by Dad. Dad also did the watch repairs, joined later by my brother, Craig after he attended watch repair school in Queens, New York. My sisters Pam, Laurie, Nan as well as my brother, Walter and Mom took care of customers.

Christmas time was brutally busy but also a time of wonderful memories. We all learned how to wrap gifts and make bows from scratch all taught by the master, Dad. Any gift that was bought was wrapped free of charge, a service Dad insisted was an obligation to the customer.

Occasionally, however, Dad would jump the rails during the Christmas rush. One day, he completely surprised my brother-in-law, Chuck, when he walked up to him unexpectedly, firmly grasped his tie and, with a pair of scissors, cut it off just below the knot—leaving Chuck not only in speechless shock, but with a miniature version of the Windsor Necktie. After recovering from this shock, Chuck walked over to my father, firmly grasped his tie, and returned the favor.

Dad and I often locked horns. Some of it was, of course, because I was a teenager and I guess that goes with the territory. The other was that even though I look exactly like Mom, my personality was, well, is more like Dad’s. We would have such terrible arguments, that as an adult, I am ashamed of how I put Mom in the middle. Also part of the horn locking was the fact that we worked together in the store so much. I worked there pretty much every Saturday and during Christmas vacation from school, I would go into the store with Dad at about 6:00 a.m. and we would get home about midnight. As I mentioned, Christmas was extremely busy and there was much work to be done.

No matter, I loved Dad very much, and looking back, that part of my life did, in fact, provide a life experience education that could not be matched and Mom—well, she stood her ground and when she thought that I was wrong during those arguments she told me so. I loved her very much for that, for she instilled in me the fearlessness of standing for my principles.

4. The Station Wagon Caper

Of course, there is the instinct of survival, which reminds me of when I first got my driver’s license. I was sixteen. This particular Saturday morning, I was running some errands for Dad for the store. Now, there was this bridge between Green Island and Troy, New York. The bridge collapsed a number of years ago and was rebuilt. However, when it was rebuilt, the railroad tracks were not included and so the infamous girders are no longer there.

Obviously, at sixteen, my driving experience was pretty much nonexistent. So my judgment in regard to the girders of the bridge on the passenger side of the car was faulty at best and the fact that it was a station wagon did not help.

Well, as a result of my lack of judgment in gauging the distance to the girders, I side-swiped the right side of the car crossing the bridge. I was a