Some of the most important parts of A New Life from the Ashes come from memories of growing up and the people who surrounded me during those years.
Our house on Willow Lane and the experiences of childhood became an important part of the story. My memories include my parents, my sisters and brother, grandparents, school years, family traditions, ordinary moments, humor, affection, conflict, and hardship.
I grew up in a family with Italian and French heritage. My father came to America from Italy when he was three, and my mother’s family came from Nancy, France. Like many families, ours contained both good memories and difficult ones.
Some childhood experiences were funny and ordinary. Others were much harder to understand at the time. Family circumstances, relationships, and painful experiences left lasting impressions on me and influenced the way I viewed myself, other people, and God.
Loss also became an important part of my childhood story. The deaths of people close to me brought grief and questions that I carried for years.
Looking back now, I can see why those memories became such an important part of the memoir. They are not simply stories from the past. They are pieces of the journey that eventually led me toward questions of faith, forgiveness, purpose, and hope.
A New Life from the Ashes brings those memories together because understanding where we came from can sometimes help us understand the journey that follows.