Tony and Quan's Page | Quan and Tony

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posted by Quan on Wednesday 2010 Feb 24 at 03:30

My dad's project!!!

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Supper Time

posted by Tony on Sunday 2009 Feb 08 at 16:30

Richard Masiello (1936 - 2008)

posted by Tony on Tuesday 2008 Jun 03 at 12:33

Eulogy for Richard J Masiello
2008-05-31

On behalf of Eve, and all of my family, we would like to say thank you for joining us today in celebrating the life of my dad, Richard Masiello.

My Dad came into this world at the end of an era. His generation was the last to grow up and see the family farm. He grew up with strong traditions, values and respect, passed down from the old country from which his grandparents came.

But Richie also grew up in an age of modernization and change. As a young man he developed a passion for all things mechanical. A passion that would guide his professional life as a trucker, a mechanic and a business man. Also a passion for his beautiful restoration work on antique cars and bicycles.

Richie was a wonderful father who provided for and brought up myself, my brother Andy, and my sister Joanne. His dream was for my brother and I to play pro ball. He came to every game we played and often was drafted to be a coach. He bought us a pitching machine and built a batting cage in the yard. He gave us every advantage that a kid could have. There was only one problem. I could never throw a ball ninety feet.

I was fortunate that I worked with my dad for several years in the business that he had built with his brother Jim. I learned much about the hard work, dedication and quality that my dad gave to the business each and every day. He could be very demanding as a boss, but I also saw side of him that was generous and caring towards those who worked for him. Richie never refused to help someone who was in need. He would be repaid in loyalty.

My Dad told me a joke at work one day. He employed about forty drivers, and across the hall from the office was a break room that the drivers could use during downtime. "If I could get away with it...", he told me, "I would put slot machines in the break room and pay everyone in quarters". It was typical of his great sense of humor, but it also showed me that my dad was a keen observer of the human condition.

Perhaps, Richie is looking down on us all now. There is a part of him that has the utmost respect for these traditions, and he would be honored by all of the friends and family that have come to pay their respects. But there is also a side of my Dad that is fiercely independent. What he would really want is to be remembered with a big party that brought together family and friends. So as we leave here today, we should honor his memory. Think of all of the good times that we shared. Raise a glass to him and say, "Thank you! We will miss you! Salute!"

讓我們老去的原來是哀傷

posted by Quan on Tuesday 2008 Jun 03 at 09:34

These past couple of days I have been asking myself a lot of questions. There is a chinese saying, "To be born, To get old, To get sick, and to die are the most common things for a human being, no need to be too happy or sad, the day we are born, we already know what will happen to all of us" (生老病死,人之常情) . But if it is that simple, why is my heart so painful and empty? What is the meaning of being a human being? What is the meaning of life? I finally found the answer for myself --- Sharing! Sharing and be able to share with the people who we love and care for, is the meaning of life and being a human being (因為你們的存在,我的生命才有了意義). I am so sad about that because I know Tony and I can't share anything with Dad anymore. This is so scary and painful, and there is no way to fix it. The only thing we can do is to try our best to share more time with the family when we have the chance and hope that there will not be too much regret when the day comes.

Big Daddy!

posted by Quan on Tuesday 2008 Jun 03 at 09:21

Richard Masiello, my father-in-law, I called him "Dad".

The first time I met him was the Christmas of 2004, right after I moved from China to here. I was excited and nervous to meet him and all of Tony's family. Tony had told me a lot of his stories at that point. As soon as his car pulled into the drive way. Tony and I ran out of the door to welcome him ( We had a party at my Mother-in-law’s old house ). He had a big smile on his face, and he hugged me in his arms so tight that I felt like I would sink into his tummy. I called him "Dad" since that moment, and I felt in love with this big Italian guy right away.

When he speaks, I feel like I am watching the movies. His italian accent is absolutely beautiful. My dad and I are both big "Godfather" fans and we have watched this movie together so many times. And now, there was a person who talked like that in the real life. It is so cool. It is even more cool that he is my father-in-law. I always tell Tony that I can listen to Dad talking all day long. Now when I think of him, I can still hear his voice.

We had not been visiting him a lot because we are living in MA. We never tried hard enough to visit him because we believed that he will be around for a very long time. There was always "the next time". --- Next time I will cook ribs for him when we visit....

Almost every time we visited him, he would bring us to these very expensive restaurants, even if just for the lunch. I always told Tony that I would like to pay for it (especially after I had a job) . Tony always told me that he will be mad about it. ---- What a big Daddy!

He loved to serve me drinks (Actually, not just him, a lot of Tony's family love to serve me drinks - champagne, wine, beer, gin and tonic.... ). I knew he loved to serve me a drink, so that I always told him champagne or wine. Then he gave me that big smile and handed me the drink.

There was one time he roasted the jalapeno peppers for us with our chicken marsala and pasta. That was yummy....I had six roasted peppers that night, I remember when I asked him, are they spicy?... he picked up one pepper, and threw the whole thing in his month, and looked at me said "NOT HOT AT ALL". --- I knew they were hot, because my stomach was burning at that time.

He still makes the best pasta. Tony.... what can I say? You are catching up.... but his pasta is still the best so far. I always ate a lot when he cooked for us. I always felt that I would not need to eat for a week after that.

Sometimes when he asked me what do I want to drink, he would touch my hair like I am a little girl. Every time, when he kissed my cheek, he will hold my face with his hands like I am a little girl. The last time I saw him (May 10th), right before we walked out of his house to go to Mario's for lunch, he used his thumbs to squeeze my face like I am a little girl.

I wished Tony married me when I was 18, so that I would have more time to be part of the family. I was 120 lbs at that time, so I am not sure if Tony would be interested in me though.

At last year's Christmas party at his house, I drank a little too much, and I sat on his chair (near the fireplace) while he was in the kitchen, when he came to the living room, I got up and tried to let him sit on his chair (I know that is the only chair will make his back and leg feel a little better), but he touched my hair and told me to sit down, and he went to sit on the couch).

There were many more details and I will remember all of them, and I will tell my children about him, and I will also tell my son (if I could have a son) that if his grandpa was still alive, he will call him "Wooden Head" ....

Dear Dad, I love you so much and I will miss you forever!

I wish I could go to play!

posted by Tony on Wednesday 2008 Apr 23 at 12:31

Happy Birthday Milky!

posted by Tony on Thursday 2008 Mar 20 at 02:36

Milky's First Birthday Celebration!

Merry Christmas!!!

posted by Tony on Sunday 2007 Dec 23 at 04:30

Quan's First Snowman

posted by Tony on Friday 2007 Dec 21 at 08:13

It only took three years, but she finally made her first one (with assistance from Sonya and myself). It has since succumbed to the elements, but the way this winter has started, there might be another chance or two.

Snickers

posted by Tony on Wednesday 2007 Dec 19 at 11:25

It's been difficult for me to write about much here recently since we lost Pepper, but I feel it is time to show off our newest addition to the family. His name is Snickers and we adopted him exactly one week after we had lost Pepper. We are not sure if he has any Maine Coon in his blood, but he looks amazingly similar to Pepper.

Snickers had been dumped outside at the shelter sometime during a Sunday night, and was found in the outdoor dog pound when they came in Monday morning. He was about three months old, but weight only two pounds. His fur was covered in flea eggs and dirt, and one could feel his skeleton through his fur when petting him. He needed us and we needed him. We adopted him three days after he arrived at the shelter.

Snickers has been a bit sick since he came home with us, but we are hopeful that he is past that now. He has put on lots of weight, his fur has turned silky soft with a beautiful luster, and he has gone from a shy sick little baby to a playful, loving and sometimes mischievous boy. He really has become one of the family.

With Quan on his first night home

Combing out the dead flea eggs. The poor thing was covered in them.

Pretty Face

Tilted!

With Cocoa!

With Milky!

Welcome to our new site

posted by Tony on Saturday 2007 Dec 01 at 15:59

Quan and I welcome any visitors to our new site. We've moved the size to a new hosting company, zipa.com, made a new design, did a fresh install of the Lifetype software, and we will now combine our writing efforts on a single page. We are excited to have a fresh start, and hope you have a good experience visting our website and taking a small peek into our lives. Thanks!

Cocoa Arrives!

posted by Tony on Tuesday 2007 Oct 30 at 05:03