You Couldn't Predict What He'd Say Next

New  Year's Party at Lundy's Restaurant in Sheepshead Bay

Nettie always required that her kids do this pose - oldest through youngest
(L to R) Pete, Cathy, Pamela, Patricia, Barbara, Annette

(Look at Pete's face ... do you know how many times in his life he had to do this same pose? )

Anyone who has met Peter and spent some time with him knows that you never knew what he was going to say next ... or whether the joke was about you or on you ... so, when you brought someone around him for the first time, you knew it was going to be funny ...

When I introduced my husband, Tony to meet Pete one afternoon, it was still a new relationship for us. Pete asked him the usual stuff, like where he worked and what was wrong with him that he was dating me.

When Tony tried to make casual conversation and ask him about his band and  girlfriend,  Pete said, with the straightest of faces, "you should meet my new girlfriend. Her family owns Boars Head Deli Meats, and I'm only dating her for all the free the cold cuts."  I remember punching him in the arm and saying, "Be nice, We don't want to scare Tony off just yet." Pete let out a howling laugh and told my worried bf that it was a joke. Then proceeded to make faces behind Tony's back and tell some outrageous stories of his bandmates on tour.

Months later, I told Pete I was engaged to Tony and when I showed him the ring, he said without missing a beat, "My Condolences To Both Of You." A week later, I get a SYMPATHY card from Pete with a check and note about how "sorry he was to hear of the loss of my mind. "