John's Guestbook

Dear Johnny, I hope that you are doing better than you were a year ago, as it is now January 2013, I found out about your illness today online as i was searching for the address and phone number of my cousin, WITH YOUR SAME NAME. Whether or not you are he, I will be saying a prayer for you this evening. His heart surgery as a small child, indirectly, caused my existence--as my parents met because my father came back from California to be with his family during the risky procedure. It was being performed on his first \"favorite\" nephew--the first-born child, the American of a new generation, to a family of isolated Italian immigrants, who had spent 30 years without having ANY EXTENDED FAMILY. My father would laugh and say, \"Uncle, Nephew, Cousin--these were strange new words that we had never used before--and then...all because this child was born--like a miracle!\" Imagine hearing that this tiny little boy had to have OPEN HEART SURGERY...it must have been terrifying for this family. So much that it caused my father, nearly 30 at the time, to change his plans of settling permanently 3,000 miles out West, where his childhood buddy had moved. Well, my eldest cousin (of 15 future cousins total) Johnny, pulled through! While back in New York City, my father attended a charity ball with neighborhood friends and, there, met his future wife--my mother. The rest is history... But, to this day, when the expression \"having an open heart\" is used, I automatically think of my \"Biggest Cousin\" Johnny, who\'ve I\'ve always associated with LOVE & FAMILY & DESTINY. So, even though I can count on my two hands the few-and-far-between occasions that I\'ve been lucky enough to be in his presence, his \"OPEN HEART\" has had a great impact on me. I am a hopeless single-mother of four boys, but i\'ve never had an overnight stay in a hospital with ANY ONE OF THEM! I believe that\'s because my father, who was NOT RELIGIOUS, must have PRAYED SO HARD for MY COUSIN JOHNNY that the Angels who were in the Operating Room with him that first time have NEVER LEFT HIS SIDE or MINE! So, whether or not you are the SAME JOHN LAZZATI, I hope that YOUR HEART REMAINS BEATING, HEALING, and OPEN TO LOVE. May all of the people who participated in your rescue, surgery, and care be greatly blessed. And may God Bless You with Courage & Perseverence in this New Year, 2013.