In 100 years, in 2124, we will all be buried with our relatives and friends. Strangers will be living in our homes we fought so hard to build and they will own everything we have today --- including that car you spent a fortune on. Our descendants will hardly know who we were. How many of us know our grandfather’s father? After our deaths we will be remembered for a few years. And a few years later our history our photos, our deeds will go into the dust bin of oblivion. We won’t even be memories.

My father, Louis Boitano, born in Ballard, Washington, before it was incorporated into the city of Seattle. He taught me many things which I try to live by today: never judge someone about the money they make in an honest profession; be wary of flag wavers, they’ve probably never experienced a real battle; never define anyone by their religion or by the pigmentation in their skin. And, never sprinkle grated Parmigiano-Reggiano on ravioli, for it interferes with the dishes’ real flavor.