Our Story

Keeping “In Touch”

BY CHARLES SACCHETTI

On June 26, 1979, my wife, Luann, and I were blessed with our first child: a beautiful, little daughter, Rosanne. Everyone in the family was thrilled. She would have four loving grandparents to shower her with a ton of love. My parents had two granddaughters, from my sister and her husband, so the birth of our daughter was extra special for my wife’s parents, Fred and Rose Sorbello, who now had their first grandchild.

Rose was a loving lady who exuded femininity. She was the ideal motherin-law, never butting into our affairs. While delivering her eulogy, I joked that my only complaint with her was that I could never tell “mother-in-law” jokes because she was so nice. Fred was a handsome, hard-working, gregarious man and also quite the kidder.

Like Rose, Luann is a meticulous housekeeper, a surprise for anyone who knew her as a child. Little Luann was a holy terror, grabbing everything in sight, knocking things over, jumping on furniture, and just generally getting into mischief. Her father saw his opportunity for a little “payback.” He quickly stated his intention to teach the baby how to run around the house and perform feats of mayhem. At her first birthday party, he was true to his word. His gift box contained a very realistic-looking toy hammer to be used by the baby after his “personal instruction.”

Three years later, our son, Michael, came along. Luann’s pregnancy was bittersweet as her Dad was engaged in a courageous battle with lung cancer. Fred died two months before our son’s birth, so Michael’s arrival was greeted with emotions of every type. Rose came to our house in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, to lend a hand while Luann was getting back on her feet.

Three days later, it was time to take her back home to New Jersey. Earlier that morning, I decided to stroll to the shopping center to pick up a few things. The half-mile walk gave me time to reflect upon the events of the last week and to ponder my new responsibilities. On the way, I thought of Fred and said a quick prayer, thinking, ‘Boy, Dad, too bad you’re not around. Now you have a grandson who could really make use of a hammer.’ Soon after, we left for New Jersey. After about a mile, I saw a fairly large object in the street, which I would have to avoid. Approaching it, my heart leapt, and I let out an audible “Whoa,” startling Rose. There, in the middle of the road, was a brand-new, shiny hammer. I kept driving, adrenaline pumping, and told Rose the whole story, from my walk to the store up to that very moment. She looked at me in amazement. Was this a coincidence? Fifty-six years of driving and I had never encountered a hammer in the road. I have, unfortunately, met up with a nail or two. Naturally, this story passed through the entire family the day it

A recreated setting of a hammer occurred. lying in “Mary’s Garden” in the same spot as the one that was left for Michael, just before he proposed to Two decades later, Michael was a young man contemplating a proposal Gina. of marriage to the love of his life, Gina. Despite his euphoria, he has natural anxiety about how his life will change forever. He decides to pop the question after Sunday mass at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Riverton, New Jersey. After mass, the young couple strolls into “Mary’s Garden,” a scenic shrine dedicated to the Blessed Mother. His nervousness immediately disappears when he looks at a nearby bench and sees … a shiny hammer just sitting there. He then realizes that his “Pop-Pop” was giving him the message: “Go for it, kid, and don’t worry about a thing.” Charles Sacchetti (Worthwhilewords21@gmail.com) is the author of two books, It’s All Good: Times and Events I’d Never Want to Change and Knowing He’s There: True Stories of God’s Subtle Yet Unmistakable Touch.