Dedication

By Edward Fava

December 14, 2015

This book, which has been writing itself in my mind for twenty years, is finally a reality. I have wanted to write this for so long but with the hectic and busy work schedule of running a catering business I never could find the time to actually do it.

This book is the silver lining to come out of a bad situation. It has literally saved my life and gave me the strength to continue. I became ill in March of 2013 and instead of working 12-18 hours a day I spent endless hours having medical treatments and going to one doctor’s visit after another.

After the necessary period of self-pity (fortunately God and I didn’t allow this phase to last very long) I figured it was a gift from Him giving me the time to write my book. I mustered up the energy to work on a layout. Miraculously as I worked I got more strength and energy to continue. I rigorously wrote recipe after recipe in black and white composition books and slowly put them on my lap-top computer.

This process, including proof-reading and editing, has taken a very long time. For many months I just didn’t have the energy to work on it. My nephew Jud formatted the book and gave me 20 pages of editing notes literally the day before he left for a year-long trip around the world (Jud, like his uncle, works best under pressure). I was overwhelmed by the editing task and as usual put off my homework assignment to the last minute. I always worked best under pressure and in the 11^th hour.

Knowing Jud was coming home for the Christmas holidays I realized I needed to, at the very least, address his long list of notes and suggestions. Once I got started, I got a burst of energy and was on a roll again to finish the editing. Gratefully I finished a few days before Jud was to arrive. I think he will be impressed that it’s done. Now he can finish the formatting process and we can send the manuscript to the publisher for approval. I can’t begin to thank him for all his help, support and encouragement.

This life-saving book is dedicated to three generations of the strong, beautiful and loving women in my life:

My maternal grandmother, Lucia Carmela Zito Marciano

My mother, Mary Lucy Marciano Fava

My sister, Albina Gerarda Mary Fava Hannigan

These three women have influenced, inspired and enriched my life in countless ways.

Lucia with her husband Rocco Marciano and Edward's sister, Albina, photographed at Albina's Holy Communion in 1960.

Lucia Carmela Zito Marciano

My grandmother always had time for me as a young child (a huge gift that many adults often don’t make the time to give) and allowed me to sit in her kitchen to watch and help when I could (not everyone was granted this privilege). She showered me with beautiful wisdom from her gentle and loving words and above all her kind actions. She rarely left her home (except to shop for her grandchildren’s new Easter outfits at Bonwit Teller or Lord & Taylor) and didn’t attend church regularly yet she was the most Christian person I have ever known. She was good, kind and generous to everyone. Her actions were life lessons unto themselves. I will treasure her memory as long as I live.

Edward with his mother Mary lighting up a gathering with their one-of-a-kind smiles.

Mary Lucy Marciano Fava

My mother, who is the reason I get up every day (especially during these past 2 and a half years), is the one person I could always count on for strength and guidance. She has always shown me unconditional love (even when I didn’t deserve it). She was always ahead of her time from parenting (she allowed me to go to Spain all by myself at 12 years old) to fashion (she always had the latest cloths and shoes usually a year before they were in style) and everything in between. Even now, suffering with Alzheimer’s, she is still my strength and source of energy. I simply have to touch her hand and I feel her positive energy coming right into me. Like her mother she is the glue that holds her family together and the pillar of strength and love to her children and especially to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I can’t thank God enough for the gift of such an amazing mother.

Edward with his mother Mary lighting up a gathering with their one-of-a-kind smiles.

Edward enjoying friend Tony's niece's wedding party alongside mother Mary (left) and sister Albina (right).

Albina Gerarda Mary Fava Hannigan

My sister, Albina, who is 5 years my senior, has been a little mother to me and my brother from the start. She has always been such a nurturer to all of us and her family and now granddaughters Emily Grace and Sarah Paige. Al, as everyone calls her or Beanzie as her niece, nephew and great-nephews call her, has always been a power-house with more energy than anyone I have ever known. She can get more done in 2 hours than most people can do in 2 days. Like her mother and grandmother she is kind, generous, loving and smart (she successfully ran my catering business for years in spite of me not always listening to her wise advice). She always seems to have time for everyone and everything we might need while often neglecting her own needs. She is a loyal and dutiful (as old-fashioned as that might sound) daughter. The care she gives to my parents is unparalleled and tireless. Al is a loving and supportive wife to her husband Patrick, a kind man whose generosity and willingness to share his wife with her family without ever complaining or stopping her has always been appreciated. She is a devoted mother (she had the best teacher) and a new and doting grandmother (they are lucky little girls).

I cannot thank these three dynamic women enough for everything that makes me the person I am, especially my ability to love.