Early Family History

My Little Sandy

My Hungarian father, Ernie, had a heart murmur and was unable to join the armed forces. Somehow, he loved to roller skate and became a skate dancer at the local skate rink. My Italian mother, Rose, enjoyed skating also and soon became infatuated with my dad at the same skate rink. Mom was only 17 when they got married and 18 when my brother, Ernie Jr., was born on October 10, 1942. He had dark skin and hair.

Eleven months later I was born on October 1, 1943, in St Mary's Hospital, Passaic, NJ. My parents had named me Anthony after my dad’s father. They were surprised to see me born with fair skin and blonde, most likely from my Hungarian genes. My mother said, “I can’t call him Anthony, he doesn’t look like Anthony. He’s my little Sandy”.

Two years later, my brother Lenny was born on November 30, 1945. He had dark hair with a lighter complection than Ernie and a little darker than mine. Three boys all under four that must have been an enormous chore.

Grandma Grace LaPorte

I never knew my Great Grandparents, or their names. Great Gandma came from Colabria, Italy, and Great Grandpa came from Sicely, Italy.

Gracie got married at 14. She used to sit on her front porch and watch couples walk down the street to go to the movies. When she asked her parents if she could go to the movies, they said you have to be married.

She soon met Ross Jinselli and they got married so she could go to the movies! A few months later she had a bad stomach ache, and asked her landlord what was wrong. Her landlord told her she was having a baby. She was confused and asked how the baby got there. The landlord was Italian and spoke to her saying, “Where the sour goes in the sweet comes out”. Supposedly, in Italian it rhymes.

A few months later Rose Jinselli was born. Sometime after her second child, Leonard, was born they got a divorce.

Grandpa Ross Jinselli

My brother, Ernie, just sent me this photo of grandpa Ross and my mother. We have no idea when or where it was taken. Maybe Ross came to my parent's wedding in 1941. My grandparents were divorced, and Grandpa Ross wasn’t involved with raising his children, Rose and Leonard.

I'm a member of the "Silent Generation"

aka "The Lucky Few" (1928–1945).

Upon coming of age in the postwar era, Silents were sometimes characterized as trending towards conformity and traditionalism, as well as comprising the "silent majority".[

We came of age in the slipstream of the Great Depression and the shadow of the Cold War, landing in a rare window of American economic explosive growth. Sociologist Robert Wuthnow argued we were fortunate; as I sit here at 82, I can tell you he hit the bullseye.

Brothers Three

This is the earliest photo I have of all three of us. We were celebrating my first communion as a Catholic. Lenny, Me and Ernie. I don't know how my parents did it. They gave us a solid foundation to build on.

As I write these pages, it reminds me tht my life has been a series of 'Lucky' strikes that kept me moving forward. Even the 'unlucky' times weren't setbacks—they were just high-stakes training exercises. Nothing life-threatening, just the friction required to make a Marine. Oorah!

🎶 Music -The #1 song of the year for 1945 was: "Don't Fence Me In" —

Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters

🎥 Movie - The Lost Weekend" - Bing Crosby was winning hearts, this film was winning the Academy Award for Best Picture.

📺 Television - "Tomorrow" Even then the big concern was What's Next? It was one of the most vital "Invisible Tools" of the time.

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