February 24th, 2025

Greetings,

      Our trip back from Europe was long and arduous. We left Trapani at 3 o’clock in the morning, arrived at the airport for a 6 o’clock flight to Milan and then onto Amsterdam where we spent the night. We then took the long flight to New York and then a "delayed" flight to Rochester where we arrived at 1 o’clock in the morning. So, as you can imagine, we are still recuperating a bit from the time change and the travel. That said we are back and we are working again.

      While at the store on Friday and Saturday I was greeted by so many friends who had followed my pilgrimage. It was really heartwarming. When I was in Sicily there were times I did not speak to any except myself for several days, but through Facebook I communicated with friends from everywhere and that really made a difference in my journey. So one pilgrimage is complete and I’m already planning another but what did I learn? This was not an easy trip for an handicapped person. I negotiated planes, trains and taxis by myself. I cooked, shopped and entertained myself. I just wanted to do it…I wanted to prove something…and what I have proven is that I am a tough, gnarly old bird. That is my new mantra…. whenever I came across a difficult curb to mount my scooter over, or a hill that looked a treacherous…. I would say to myself, "you can do this…because you’re a gnarly old bird! You’re tough and you’re not gonna let anything stop you". Well, it worked and I made it through and I’m planning on going back in October for an extended period of time.

      My return to America has been at a time of serious turmoil. There seems to be a group of people who want to return to "the good old days". It’s a familiar old song. We’ve been down this road a few times. There seems to be some kind of romance with the masculine days of the 1950s and 60s and 70s when young, tough American boys fought wars overseas. Well, the sad truth of the matter is that they lost all of those wars and all of those lives and they didn’t protect America except of course, business interests overseas. For those who want to return to our "golden era" of the 1890s… the Gilded Age of America, these are just some truthful facts:

• The average annual income was around $500-$1,000, with most families living close to poverty. 
• Rent took up a significant portion of income, especially in cities where tenement housing was prevalent and a new wave of immigrants was arriving from Europe. 
• A large portion of income was spent on food, often with limited variety and quality due to low wages. 
• Most homes lacked running water, electricity, and indoor plumbing. 
• Factory workers often worked 10-12 hours a day, six days a week. 
• Children were commonly employed in factories and mines. 
• Women earned significantly less than men for similar work. 
  
• No minimum wage or safety standards existed, leading to exploitation of workers. 

Well, what was a "golden age’ for a few, was certainly not a golden age for the majority. Those are my thoughts for today, thank you for your interest, comments, and goodwill.

With peace, 

John Bernunzio 

Baby, it’s cold outside….

The drive on the way home is about one hour… the same amount of time that I used to drive my scooter around the entire peninsula of Trapani…. even though I like the beautiful farm fields, I’m beginning to already start to think about revisiting the Mediterranean.

The lake has 10 inches of ice on it, and the ice fisherman are out in force….

In order to get myself back into the American spirit, I paid a visit to the Liberty Restaurant and had their fabulous Friday fish fry. There’s nothing better on the planet.