June 22, 2026 - HOW MY GARDEN GROWS
I am anticipating a bumper crop of basil in many varieties
Ditto for the tomatoes
Henry and his inspirational history teacher, Cole Lachance-Tofany.
Henry with a very proud mom and dad.
I’m certainly not the only gardener in the family. My daughter Kara’s backyard is a virtual paradise.
My son Jay give me this baseball for Father’s Day imprinted with a photo of me, himself and grandson Rocco at a Red Wings game from a couple of years ago
HOW MY GARDEN GROWS
June 22nd, 2026
Good morning friends,
I’ve been in the planting business for half my life. I’ve been growing gardens and children for over 50 years. There’s never a quiet moment and on Sunday, in addition to having Father’s Day, we also had the graduation of my grandson, Henry Miller. I have eight grandchildren and now four have graduated high school but we may have to wait a while for the next graduation. We had our children and grandchildren in shifts!
Fatherhood came to me In 1973. My first child, Karena Anne Bernunzio was born on the 7th of January, after a long and protracted labor and eventually Caesarean section. I was in the waiting room and the doctor came out and told me I was the proud father of an 8-1/2 pound baby boy. I called my parents and told them with great deal of excitement. I called my siblings and relatives and even my aunt in California to tell them that I had a son. Later, I was allowed to see my wife as she was recuperating from the surgery. I said, "What are we going to name our baby boy?". She said, "We don’t have a boy. We have a girl". I walked over to the doctor and I said. "isn’t it sad, she doesn’t even know that we had a boy…she thinks we had a girl. He said, "oh you had a boy" as he picked up and unwrapped the newborn baby. Suddenly, and with a very perplexed expression, he looked at me and said, "oh my… I’ve never made this mistake before!". So the first of my five children entered the world, a beautiful daughter and is now these many years later she has me given much joy and three grandchildren.
At the graduation ceremony, I came to find out a little bit more about my grandson Henry Miller. He graduated magna cum laude with an host of other honors and achievements, both academic and civic. He is an incredible young man who wants to become a teacher. I am so proud of him and of the diverse company that he keeps. He is going to be attending Cortland State in the fall and hopes to study history.
Looking around the table, it dawned on me that I will not have another high school graduation until nearly 10 years from now when Rocco, my son Jay’s nine year old graduates from high school. So, a huge thank you to all of my children: Kara, Jay, Ben, Rose and Grace for giving me the privilege of Father’s Day.
With peace,
JB
