Anna Maria Good
Growing up in Italy
During spring, summer, and fall we played soccer on the beach, got into fights, some verbal and others physical; then to cool off, we went for a swim as friends. As the goalie facing the opposite team members, I had to be tough on the field, and later I knew how to be tough in life. Even if nobody taught us, but life itself, we learned team spirit and team play, the basic qualities to become responsible grown-ups.
The Italian school system promoted more than just knowledge. There were no multiple choice and true/false tests, only oral presentations and essays on every subject except for mathematics where we had to write and explain problems on the blackboard or on the test. This kind of training set us to be good business people one day, to talk and to write well and without any fear.
Finally, romance came into my life! It happened just after Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet came out in the movie theaters. Anna Maria looked just like Olivia Hussey; I didn’t look anywhere near Leonard Whiting. I do believe I was much more romantic than he. Anna Maria and I attended school functions, church affairs, and family gatherings. We went to lots of house parties where refreshments and dancing on the terrace made socializing easier for all of us high school students. Anna Maria and I did what any teenagers in love do, and we had fun.
Growing up in Italy was one of the best and greatest experiences of my life. After completing high school, owning only a pocketful of dreams, I left Italy on the Leonardo da Vinci cruise liner. I arrived in New York City nine days later to do my very own discovery of America. God has been benevolent and patient with me: the dreams turned into accomplishments over a period of time.
After all these years, I have not been able to go back to Italy, not even on a short vacation. Anna Maria grew up into a fine lady, married a former schoolmate of ours, and has five kids. I grew up, too, got married to a Polish princess, and have three kids.
Destiny unfolded while surprising us all. As time passes, we cherish the wonderful memories we made, and look forward making new beautiful ones.
About the Author
Joseph Mangraviti, author of
Hooked on You (heart-felt poems), was born in Genoa, Italy. After completing high school in Messina, Italy, he came with only a pocketful of dreams to the States where he received a college education. The dreams became accomplishments in time. Mr. Mangraviti lives in New Jersey with his wife and kids. He has always enjoyed reading and writing poetry and, most of all, sharing it with family, friends and the public.
We The Kings – Anna Maria (All We Need) w/ lyrics
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Anna Maria Horner Good Folk Apron Admired fabric designer Anna Maria Horner draws on her passion for art, sewing and textiles to inspire one of a kind projects… |
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I Am David $4.86 I Am David is adapted from Anne Holm’s internationally acclaimed novel North to Freedom. David is thrust into the free world for the first time in his young life as he travels across Europe. It is a spiritual voyage of discovery where David slowly loses his instinctual mistrust of humanity and begins to smiles share trust and ultimately love.System Requirements: Running Time 90 MinFormat: DVD MOVI… |
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How High $3.98 This pot-happy romp stars rapper Method Man as a dude with a green thumb who fertilizes his potent marijuana batch with the ashes of dead friend Chuck Davis, who uses his afterlife contacts to get Method and stoned pal Redman into Harvard. When the duo run out of their super-stoned stash, it’s no more “Knuckles Up”–now they have to depend on their street smarts to stay in school. Mike Epps, Obba … |
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Sex and Lucia (Unrated Edition) $16.00 Julio Medem’s erotically charged drama centers on Lucia, a Madrid waitress who, after her novelist boyfriend Lorenzo is killed in an accident, visits a Mediterranean island where he once lived to recover. There, Lucia meets a guesthouse owner who was involved with Lorenzo and learns of his secret past–a past that is linked to his fiction–as she explores her own intimate desires. Paz Vega, Elena … |
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