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From:
Karen Panza
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Monday, March 1, 2021
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I remember meeting Prisco for the first time almost 20 years ago in Melville. I was so nervous but once I saw his smile and heard his welcoming words I knew everything was going to be ok. I have so many fond memories of Dad over the years. I remember talking to dad about financial advice and he would always have a recommendation or take the time to look into it and get back to me. Those conversations would last an hour. He always offered advice. Sometimes its what we wanted to hear and other times we were like ok but, he was usually always right. I remember all of the cards him and mom would send for all different occasions. They would always have a hand written note with words of advice and they would always with God Bless. Whenever we talked on the phone to catch up, our conversations would always end with an I love you and God Bless. We shared so many fun memories while we would visit in Florida. He help me on my gold swing at Heritage Palm. He would always take his time and line his putt up just right. We brought him to a brewery and he ordered a flight of beer. We helped him navigate his choices. He asked me if I knew what an IPA was. I smiled and he said " I Pee'd a lot" I laughed so hard. There were many nights of Rummy_Q. We would sit back and wait patiently for him to make his move. We always let him get away with more time than usual. He loved his oatmeal in the morning. It was a process. He would stand at the stove and stir his oatmeal. Just the right amount of water to cereal. Then top it with his blueberries and bananas. While he visited us in CT we would always go to Jones Winery. He always smiled and enjoyed spending time with us. Just as we enjoyed time with him. He has helped guide Steve and I through life with a lot of our decisions. I am so thankful for him. I will miss him dearly. I know he will be watching over us and protecting us.
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From:
Stephen Panza
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Saturday, February 27, 2021
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There are so many things going through my head tonight that I can’t possibly get them all down, I’m sure I will visit this memorial many times to write more as it comes to me. So many moments, good and bad, funny and sad, so much advice and the many cautionary tales that I don’t think I could possibly live long enough to do right by it all.
As I go through the pictures of this memorial I can remember some of the conversations that took place on those occasions. Most of it was light hearted and reminiscing of the many little curve balls life threw at him. Some of it was the wisdom of life’s lessons learned. The jokes made about what was going on at the time or perhaps one of many highly aggravating things that one of us had done years ago, that is only too funny now, mainly because we survived it. I notice all the smiles. We all smile for photos, but he always seemed to have one. He always believed in being kind to others. He was one of the hardest working people I have ever known; might be where I get it from, but he always tried to exercise kindness where he could. Perhaps it was the other side of the coin for him, the balance to all the hard work. I know he also felt it was gratifying; even to do something little for someone he didn’t know. I have to admit I’ve found it to be true in my own life. This is one of my earliest memories that stems from the days of holding my father’s hand walking up and down the aisles of St Gerards church as his usher’s helper, watching him treat everyone like he had known them twenty years. I truly miss those days. I hated going to church but I loved being his helper.
It seems as far back as I can remember I was always trying to learn something from him. Of course one of the toughest things to learn from him for me was math. I liked math because there was only one answer. No opinions, either it was right or it was wrong. Or so I thought. It turned out I was pretty good at it, everyone in our family is very bright but when it came to math you couldn’t beat him. He could do equations in his head that would take me a whole sheet paper. It makes me laugh when I think of it now, I can remember one night in particular working on trig and I just couldn’t make this equation work to save my life. He must have shown me at least three different ways to do it and told me about two others but I had been stuck on this thing for at least an hour. He was getting frustrated and I was already beyond aggravated when he expressed that he didn’t know why this was so difficult for me. Well I decided this would be a great time to be a wise ass and mouth off to him. In my defense I knew what he did for a living and the projects that he had worked on, but I didn’t know how extensive his education was. I remarked that I had only learned this stuff a couple days ago and pointed out that he probably sees this stuff every day. Then in my adolescent thought process I inquired what made him think he was an authority on astrophysics. Again being a smart ass. Well the look on his face and the silence led me to believe I was going to pay for that. He walked away instead of giving me the smack I deserved, and came back a moment later with “the book”. He didn’t say word to me, just looked at me and dropped it flat from about chest height on the table. It was a text book, graduate level I would guess, and the title was astrophysics. I couldn’t believe it, he actually had the book. Fortunately for me I had learned enough from him to know to shut up and just keep at it. That time like many others working with him, I would keep at it until I got it. Again there was always a smile on his face when you got it though, especially if it was something that didn’t come easy.
I learned early on in my career to savor life’s good times and moments of beauty. Once I moved and began my career I used to love to go “home” and visit. Even though I had my own place I never considered it home. Once they moved to Florida the visits seemed even better, or at least to me anyway. The smiles seemed bigger, the sun seemed warmer, the advice although more complicated to apply seemed wiser than ever. Most of these photos represent a day or an occasion that even then I wished wouldn’t end. There are certainly some top five moments there that will never be forgotten, but I think one that will change the way I see this particular location and even simply just the act of going there are the pictures of my father from our last trip to the winery. It was bitter sweet in so many ways. The Lewy Body was very advanced. Conversations had a way shifting topics randomly and his perception of who he was talking to would change just as easily. I knew this would be the last time I talked to my father over a drink, even if none of us would say it out loud. There were so many things I wanted to tell him and things I wanted to thank him for. I had been trying to slip them in here and there all week whether we went for a walk or took a ride. It was a beautiful September afternoon and I just enjoyed talking with him about what ever he wanted to talk about. For the life of me I wish I could remember the conversation. I think I spent most of it just trying to preserve the images and the smile in my own mind. For me that visit was the perfect end to the final chapter of a book I simply hoped would go on for at least as long we did. I’m going to miss seeing the smile in person.
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