Whenever you hear that someone you knew has passed away, it's always difficult to accept. When that someone was truly one of God's gifts to mankind, it's utterly impossible.
How can I possibly express how much Corey's mother meant to me when I was younger. My first impression of her was that she really cared about not only who you were, but you, personally.
The first time I went to Ida [Avenue] and had the chance to meet her, she was very gracious and quite inquisitive. I recall her asking me numerous questions about....well.....me! I was more than happy to oblige as she seemed genuinly interested. When you're that young (17-18 at the time), it's pretty new to have someone older actually interested in your life and what you want to do. As I recall, the rest of the evening we sat around watching TV, and yes...I believe we had fried chicken.
Mmmmm. She made some pretty mean Spaghetti, too. More importantly, she always...ALWAYS...gave the invite in a way without words. She'd set the table with plates for everyone. At the simplist task, thinking of others. In the same act, giving and showing acceptance to her son and his friends.
For a time, my mother and Barbara talked on the phone. When I told my mom the news, she was devasted. Nothing, I'm sure, in comparison to what Corey is suffering thru.
Losing a parent is something that all of us, in one way or another, have to face in life. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to still have my mother around at 82, especially with the hard life she's had. For those who have lost both parents, the initial burden must be especially cruel.
While this is really about Barbara, I have to mention Corey's father, Leo, who worked at Plant High School, where Mike and I attended.
One day in school, we had a substitute teacher. If you remember high school, you remember how much fun THAT used to be. Anyway, some of the idiots in the class got way out of control and the teacher left the room in tears. Evidently, Leo was just outside the door and heard, as well as saw, everything. Visibly upset, he verbally lashed out at us for being stupid and not taking school seriously. Telling us we had a chance to do something with our lives, and we were wasting it being a bunch of idiots. I remember thinking at the time that he was correct. We were being stupid. Although I wasn't one of the jerks giving her crap, I found the substitute later and told her I was sorry that happened. She couldn't believe it and was obviously touched.
Credit goes to Leo, whose accurate assessment made me think twice.
I bring this up to show the world, or whoever reads this, what great people the Castellanos were. Evidence of this exists in their son. There are a lot of kids who have parents that are either oblivious to their needs, or are just too stupid to raise them correctly. Very few, like our friend Corey, have the benefit of two genuine, caring, loving people like Leo and Barbara Castellano.
The world is a little less brighter now.
My sincerest condolences to Corey and his family.
Take care, and God bless,
Matthew
