By Tina Marie

My dad James Tardiolo was a very proud U.S Marine. He served in the Korean War. He married my mom Madeline when he returned from his Tour of Duty. They had four children myself TinaMarie, Lillian, my disabled sister Donna Lee and my brother Joe came along 15 years later. As we all know our journey through life takes us down many paths some good and some not so good. My mom was always laughing cooking and baking. She still was smiling even though she was close to death she just died on March 4th. On the other hand my dad, although he finished his Tour of Duty, he was a marine till he took his last breath. He taught us to be honest and respectful and fearless. He taught us how to make our beds like a Marine and the Marine Corps motto ..and if we cried he would say Marines don’t cry!! I have to say he taught me so many things in my life. He taught me how to protect my family, to stand up for what’s right, to be a voice for those who could not speak and to always speak the truth. He also taught me to be Fearless and to face my fears and how to get out of a bad situation Marine Corps Style. So for that I am so thankful. He was my protector and my love. My mom on the other hand was always cheerful and held the family together with her amazing love for each and everyone of us. Of course we weren’t the perfect family and we were not rich and we didn’t have the best home. But the one thing we did have which was priceless is the love we had from my parents which made it the best home on the Block.