A Good and Honorable Man  / Carrie Acitelli (daughter)
There are many characteristics that my father had, some more appealing, perhaps, than others. The ones that seem to make up his core of who he was, in my opinion,were integrity and honor. 

He was a man who believed in work ethic, financially supporting his family, providing the necessities, and showing honor in all that you do.  He was a man highly offended by those who were wolves in sheep's clothing. 

He was a man proud of his military service, yet quiet about his experiences.  He struggled with his personal demons brought on by a childhood that was far from perfect.  His experiences and repression of WWII memories which had a deep and lasting hold on how he related to others, coupled with the struggles of  his difficult upbringing made him seem ornary a good part of the time. His sense of humor and commitment to his wife and children carried him through his darker moments.  To suffer from depression in the time that he was here must have been a very hard burden to carry.  For his generation, it was a sign of weakness to look for help for a very real systemic illness.  I wonder how he would be in this day and age. 

It is funny how you think that the strongest memories would be those of special occasions but the ones that I truly hold dear are what seem to be the most mundane.  I recall dancing with him in our kitchen while standing atop of his feet and waltzing with him like a marionette.  I remember taking a nap with him and waking up to the television  and the announcer doing the "Wonderful, World of Disney" intro and trying to decide between  watching the show with my sisters or keeping napping in the security of my Dads arm.  I remember him always saying "No" to opening one gift on Christmas Eve and later finding he always did it as a tease for us to call him the Grinch.  I remember him  belly laughing at tv shoes such as "MASH" or "All in the Family".

It must have been hard to be surrounded by all females.  Between  the early childhood wines and cries to the temperament of preteens and teens and a perimenopausal  wife, the poor guy must have been beside himself!

Dad taught us to be honest, to work hard, to have integrity and to do the  best we can with what we have.  He never walked away from his problems and always dealt with him to the best of his ability.  We knew he loved us always, even if he wasn't a demonstrative as Mom.

I am proud to be his daughter and could not imagine a Dad who loved us more and provided a better childhood then the one he gave to us. 
As an adult and parent, I have garnered more respect, understanding and forgiveness for him.  I only wish I had known more about him growing up instead of finding out later after his passing.  I think it would have made me more understanding of who he was.  I wish I could have taken more of his suffering away.  However, hindsight is 20/20 and being children or a teen with that knowledge may have added fuel to the fire! 

So I suppose I am left knowing that my Dad loved us, did the best he could with what he had, instilled a sense of honor and integrity in all of us and I am sure of this, continues to be there for us, cheering us on.  and that, it pretty terrific. Close