Life Lessons from Our Parents

Life and How to Live It Podcast

Episode: Lessons from Our Parents — A Mother's Day & Father's Day Tribute

Host: Dr. Rocco | Co-Host: Pete Logiudice

Episode Overview

In this special episode, released around Mother's Day 2026, my co-host Pete Logiudice and I take a step back from our usual format to do something a little more personal. With Father's Day just around the corner, we decided to dedicate this episode to our own parents — the lessons they taught us about life, how to live it, and how to be good parents ourselves. This one comes straight from the heart.

Pete's Story: Albert and Donna Logiudice

Pete shares warm memories of growing up in the New York City area with his Irish-Italian family. A few highlights from his story:

• Parenting as a united front. Pete's parents, Albert and Donna, were always aligned. What mattered to one, mattered to the other — and their children were always the priority.
• Quality time over quantity. Even though his dad worked constantly, he always made time for catch in the backyard, ball games, and family day trips.
• Two families, one big table. Pete paints a vivid picture of alternating Sundays — one week with the Italian family in Eastchester (pasta, meat, baseball on TV), the next with the Irish side of the family in the Bronx. Different food, same love.
• A mother's calm. Pete's mom had a gift for putting things in perspective. No matter how big the problem felt, a call to mom left you feeling like everything was going to be okay — even if nothing had actually changed yet.
• Parenting with respect and empathy. These are the values Pete credits to his parents, and the same ones he and his wife Michelle have worked to pass on to their four kids.

My Story: Alfredo and Tomasina Chiappini

My parents' story is one I never get tired of telling — it's a testament to courage, resilience, and the immigrant spirit.

• Born in wartime Italy. My parents were born in a small town between Rome and Naples in the late 1930s. Their early childhood was spent in the middle of World War II — with battles literally happening in their backyard. At one point, German soldiers occupied their town and the entire village had to flee and live on a mountainside.
• A MacGyver mentality. That kind of upbringing shapes you. My dad could take anything and turn it into something useful. He never wasted a thing.
• Coming to America. My father arrived in the United States in 1961, in his early 20s, with about $10 in his pocket. He came alone — driven partly by the loss of his mother at age 13 and tension with his stepfather. He had a cousin here who helped sponsor him, and he arrived with a job as a mechanic waiting.
• My mother's journey. My mom came a few years later with her parents and siblings. Though my parents knew of each other in Italy — their families both worked in the traveling markets there, his selling fabrics, hers selling shoes — they didn't become a couple until they reconnected at a gathering in America.
• Building something from nothing. My mom worked as a seamstress. My dad worked in mechanics and construction. Together, they saved aggressively and my father had the vision to invest in real estate — buying multifamily homes, collecting rent, and flipping houses before it was even a popular concept.

Lessons I Learned from My Parents

Here are the core values my parents instilled in me that I've tried to carry forward:

• Courage. Taking leaps of faith and backing them up with hard work.
• Faith. My parents were devout Catholics, and faith — both in God and in yourself — was central to our home. My mom's favorite question: "Did you do your best?" If the answer was yes, that was enough.&l

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:02

Do you sometimes feel like life is passing you by? How would you like to get more out of life? We explore all things life on this podcast. Welcome to Life and How to Live It podcast with Dr. Rocco. Welcome to another episode of the Life and How to Live It podcast with me, Dr. Rocco. I'm joined today by my co-host, Pete Lojides. Hey Pete, how are you doing today? Rock, how are you? Great to hear from you. Great to have you here today. Today's episode is going to be released around Mother's Day 2026. And as we know, Father's Day follows a few weeks later. And Pete and I thought it would be an appropriate time to dedicate an episode to our own parents and the lessons they taught us about life and how to live it and how to parent our own children. So, Pete, let's get right to it. First of all, what were your parents' names?

SPEAKER_03 1:13

Oh, thanks, Rock. Uh, my parents were Albert and Donna Logitis. Um, they were uh uh very common, I think, back in the day was uh Irish and Italian families mixed in the New York City area. Um like you said in an earlier episode, we grew up in the New York City area, and one of the things that um I'm so happy about is it was obviously two parents, but two totally different sides of families. You know, we had the Italian family, we had the Irish family, we had the traditions of both that we had. But like I'll just add it now, just like I have with my wife, Michelle, that we we've always done. My parents parented together. You know. Um they had the same or at least it was implied to us, you know, they had the same ideals. What was the most important to one was important to the other. And it was so obvious growing up, um, that the most important thing was their children. You know, I have a brother and a sister. Um they were really and you gotta remember, when when we're talking, you know, over fifty years ago, right? So times were definitely different than they are when we had young children, and then really different than how they are now. Um but they parented together. You know, it it was it was not, you know, one you got one way, one you got another. You know, the the most important thing was um that they were a united front, you know. Again, like we said previously, back in the day, you know, my dad worked all the time, you know, and and when he did have free time, you know, he spent it with us. You know, it was either, you know, having a catch every day like I've I've spoken about, or or going to ball games, we did that quite often. We would take day trips all the time. So even though, you know, he had to be exhausted, he always found time for us. And that is one of the things that, you know, I'm most proud about in my parenting is you know what, we always found time for the kids. But back, you know, a little bit more about mine. You know, so one Sunday would be, you know, in East Chester with the Italian family, and there would just be, you know, fifteen, twenty people there. Open door policy, just walking, every type of pasta and meat and everything there on the table for you to just have all day. You know, always a ball game on on the TV. You know, it started my love for baseball. Um but it was such a family atmosphere, you know, it was it was all about getting the family together. And then the next Sunday was great because we would go to the Bronx and be with the Irish side as a family. And it was same thing. Different food, but ball game on, eating all day, walking around outside in in the Bronx, you know, as a family, and it it's it's I I don't know about you, but as I get older, my memories fade or you know, are not the same. But the memories of everything that I did with my parents will always remain, you know, it is something that is just so um ingrained. And I really think, you know, having them be so supportive, so positive. I always remembered, you know, my my mom, I would, you know, go with the this is the worst thing ever, you know, and be like and she would just be so calm and so you know, like, oh that's okay, you know, and I was like, okay, it's probably not. But I just got this instant calm. The first calls, whenever I'd be away, I college, anything, I'd call your mom. And my mom would always be, you know, you know, everything's okay, let's you know, let's let's look at this, let's do boom, and you'd be instantly, even if the problem wasn't solved, to you it was good. And these are the things I know that me and my wife have done with our four kids. You know, it was all about parenting with respect. It was about parenting with empathy, you know, and and I got that from my parents and I and I really hope, I really, you know, really hope that is what I've passed down to to my children.

SPEAKER_04 6:00

Now I remember your parents, of course, because you know, we grew up basically together, you know, and your your mom worked at the uh school office, right?

SPEAKER_03 6:10

She did, she worked at our our our local you know Catholic grammar school office. Um so I would see her all the time, uh, which was great. It it really was it was a great thing, um, which was was you know uh where we grew up when we weren't home, we were at school, you know, we were in that playground, we were you know always together, and you know, it it was nice knowing that I hate someone on the inside, you know. You did, you did.

SPEAKER_04 6:38

Even at a young age, you know. And she, you know, I was just a little kid, but I'd look at you look at your mom and she looked like she had it all under control in the office there. You know, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 6:49

She was she was great, she was always, you know, and I always see, you know, just remember sitting at the table. It's the little things you remember, you know, of your parents. Yeah, sitting there, you know, I'll never forget. And and it gives you even today, it gives you that level of comfort. I would walk in, my dad would be listening to 1010 wins news or the Nick Game or anything on the radio as he's sitting in the kitchen table. My mom would be drinking her tea in the kitchen table, and they were parents that I could go with any question, any issue, and know that you know they would they would help me out and it wouldn't be a a judgment thing. It would be, you know, let's figure out how to do this, you know. So yeah, you're right. It was it was it was great, great times. I see myself in both of them. Um and I do see me and Michelle as both of them because of working as a team, you know.

SPEAKER_04 7:54

So yeah, yeah. One memory I have of your dad, and it wasn't one time, it was repeatedly, you know. He would drive us sometimes to our baseball games when we were, yeah, I don't know, like 12 or 13 years old or something like that. And he would just sing. Oh sing at the top of his lungs to whatever. What was it like country music or any kind of music?

SPEAKER_03 8:20

Not a good singer. Um no, you know what you're right though. It was his favorite all time, Johnny Cash. Oh, okay. It didn't matter if it was Johnny Cash, Neil Diamond, you know, all of those, he would just belt it out and and sing it and be like, okay, I think we're that's where I got my singing prowess from also. But yeah, you're right. Music was a huge, huge part of our household. It was constantly being piped in. All the different albums, you know, and and it's funny because I remember when um uh you know uh Darkness on the Edge of Town, Bruce Springsteen came out. Of course, and I I played the album for my mom and she wasn't the biggest fan. And I was like, Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? This is the boss. Yeah, really didn't impress her, but music was constantly, constantly playing there.

SPEAKER_04 9:19

Yeah, my my family story is a little different, you know, because uh my parents, uh Alfredo and Tomasina Capini, uh were born in a little town in Italy between Rome and Naples in the late 1930s. And if you do the math, you know, it's like most of their early childhood was World War II. Right. And um 1944 was uh or 43 were big years of battles right where they lived. Wow, right where they lived. So uh they were like five, six, seven years old, something like that. And um at some point, you know, the the Germans had occupied their town, and all the people that lived in town had to leave because the Germans took their houses for their own soldiers to live in. And so um, you know, my parents had to go live on top of a mountain, you know, with the rest of the village, like in in a tent, you know, like that kind of thing. And that kind of upbringing, you know, sticks with you. You know, you you learn um you learn about life can be hard. You know, you learn about uh perseverance and how to never waste anything, you know. You almost become like a MacGyver. My dad was like McGyver. You could just take anything and just turn it into something useful. And I think it was from that, those formative years, you know, and even after the war ended, you know, they were, you know, the place was pretty destroyed, you know, a lot of it was. So there was a lot of rebuilding going on, and um yeah, and and so just, you know, I could go on and on about my parents' story because I think it's a fascinating one and a kind of a universal one for immigrants, but um, you know, just to make it, you know, a long story short, you know, my um my father came to the United States in like 1961. He was in his early 20s. Um, he came over because uh by himself, you know, he didn't come with his family at all, you know, and it was it was, you know, my my father's mother died when he was 13, and um his father remarried, and and my dad did not really get along with his stepmother. And and that caused tension between him and his father. And ultimately, you know, my my father decided to come to America and you know, take his shot, you know, make his fortune here. So, you know, the family lore is that he came over, he had like $10 in his pocket, he spent most of it on the boat ride from Naples to New York City, and he but you know, he did have one thing really going for him besides his own character, which we'll get into. But he had a cousin who, um, when she was a young girl, was taken to America with her parents, and so she grew up here and married an Italian-American guy who owned a gas station and um like an auto repair shop. And those folks sponsored my dad because in those days you couldn't just come to America, you had to have like a sponsorship that said that you had a job. So he got to New York and he had a job waiting for him. Um, he was uh a mechanic, and so he he had a skilled laborer, he was able to come in, be a mechanic. Um, my mom came a few years later, and she was different. She came with her parents and her three siblings. So when we were growing up, you know, we had my mom's side of the family was our family, and my dad's side of the family we would visit, you know, every couple of years we would go to Italy to visit them. Um, my mom and dad were not a couple uh in Italy, uh, but they knew each other because their families um both worked in the um traveling markets that were there, you know. If you imagine like a farmer's market, except much big much bigger than a farmer's market, because in those days they didn't really have brick and mortar stores, so anything you needed was sold in this market, right? Yeah, so my dad's family sold fabrics, and those those were fabrics that women would buy to make clothes for their themselves and their family, and my mom's side sold shoes, and so they they would see each other, they knew who each other were, they had common like relatives and friends and or whatever. Uh, and then after they came to America, um, they met at at like a family gathering, a bunch of pisons all getting together, and and they ended up getting married, and you know, I was I was born um about a year later. And um yeah, my dad, my dad was a uh he was a person who just was really astute, you know, business-wise. You know, he he was a strategic thinker, and he could see opportunities, and he saw a lot of opportunities in America. And like one of the things that he he did was, you know, he had his job as a mechanic, he worked in construction, he started learning how to do like you know repairs on homes and stuff like that. Uh, my mom was a seamstress who worked like doing stuff like I don't know, I think it might have been a sweatshop, frankly. Right. So my mom worked as a seamstress, but then when when I was born, um she stayed at home and and raised me and then my brother and sister, and she still did a little bit of like what they call peace work where they would send her stuff. She had a sewing machine at home. Um, but what they did was save money like crazy, you know, and my dad had this vision that he saw like an opportunity in owning real estate. Like he he saw that maybe if he saved enough money, he could buy like a multi-family home and collect rent. And he did that. And then he uh, you know, the two of them would then save more money and then like step up and buy like a little bit of like a multi-unit, like small apartment building. And little by little, you know, he owned a several apartment buildings, and he did this thing of flipping houses like before it was even a thing. Amazing. Yeah. And so, you know, he was he was pretty, he was a sharp man, and um, you know, the I could go on and on, like I said. So in the interest of time, I'll just say like some of the lessons that I learned, you know. So one of the things that I learned from them was just to have courage, you know, it's like being able to like take these leaps of faith and back it up with hard work. Yep. Right? Yep. Um really important is is faith. You know, they were both devout Catholics, yep. Um, and they raised me that way, and I still am uh you know, a practicing Catholic, and I tried to instill that, you know, into my children as well.

SPEAKER_00 17:07

Sure.

SPEAKER_04 17:08

And um this this faith, you know, you faith in God was important, but also faith in yourself. Yeah, you know, like if you put your mind to something and you worked hard, and my mom always used to say, Did you do your best? Yeah, you know, and then I was I'd be like, uh, I guess I really didn't do my best. So, you know, so it's like I learned that, you know, no matter what I did, like if if if I didn't do something great and she said, Did you do your best? And I said, Yeah, then she'd be like, Fine, if you did your best, that's all you can do. So I learned that, you know, faith, courage, do your best. Yeah, um, of course, family, the importance of family, you know, sure, the importance of making sacrifices for your children, especially, but for for you know, for your spouse.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:02

You know, like I learned, you know, like they had a wonderful marriage. Yeah, and like you were saying, how like your parents were so like in tune.

SPEAKER_03 18:10

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:10

Like in aligned is the word for like these days is alignment, you know.

SPEAKER_03 18:15

Yep, exactly.

SPEAKER_04 18:16

You know, my parents were very aligned, they each did their own thing. You know, my mom was, you know, the traditional stay-at-home mom, my dad was out working, but they were their alignment was their kids.

SPEAKER_03 18:29

Yeah, see, same thing, same thing. Yeah, yeah, you you can definitely see the similarities there.

SPEAKER_04 18:35

Yeah, yeah. Um, another thing um that I learned from um my mom, which is an interesting thing, is my mom was really a person who was uh interested in like putting your best foot forward, like showing yourself with dignity wherever you go. So that means, you know, like you know, have your hair cut, you know, be shaved, you know, be like, you know, all of that, have decent clothing on, you know, don't present in a sloppy way or whatever. And one of her things was posture, right? Like stand up straight, you know, shoulders back, head upright, you know, it's like that was important. And um, you know, that kind of got drummed into me. And um it's funny, like in my family lore here in my like my own wife and kids, yeah. Um, apparently my wife Susan first noticed me for my posture. Really? Yeah, she's like, I saw you walking down the street one day, and I thought that's a confident guy. That is awesome. And I got that from my mom. So there was there was a lesson there.

SPEAKER_03 19:50

So yeah, that is awesome.

SPEAKER_04 19:52

I have one more thing about that. I want something I want to say before you you add something, is one of the things I learned from them, especially from my father, was not to judge a book by its cover. Because my father was a person who did not speak good English. Yeah, you know, he would he would say he would describe his English as broken English. I speak broken English, you know. Right, right. Um, so he didn't come across as this impressive person as far as like how he spoke. And um I th and I saw him get underestimated by a lot of people over the years, you know, people who didn't realize that, you know, underneath that broken English was quite a quite a smart guy. Yeah, you know, a person who really could see around corners, you know, could like figure out stuff. And so that's something that has stayed with me, you know, in my interaction with, of course, immigrants, you know, if it's English is their second language, I always give them the benefit of the doubt because I know they could be brilliant. They just they English is not their native language, right? Right, or or even American people who aren't that educated, right? You know, right. Don't judge that book by its cover. That could be a pr like a really a smart person, uh, you know, a person of of deep soul. They could be who you don't know who they are. So I learned that to be curious about people from from them. So yeah, those are some of the lessons that I learned. And I tried to pass all that on to my kids, of course. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:37

No, I and and you know, being friends with you this long, you know, I've I've seen all that. I was um very fortunate, you know, I was basically you know, the fourth kid in your household, you know, as as much as I was there, you know, sleeping on a floor or or or what. And um just a couple of things real quick. Um I learned obviously, you know, from from my folks. Yeah, yeah. But you know, and and I and I see it now as I do things and I see my kids doing 'em, which is even better. Um doing things for people not to get noticed, but just because it's the right thing. You know, so I I I saw that all the time with my folks and you don't know you're seeing it at the time, you know, but then when you start doing it um but even more so when you see your kids doing it and it just makes you feel, you know what, might not have been perfect, no one is perfect, but when you see them doing things for others and not wanting anything in return, or even being noticed that you're doing it and up until they passed, I I I have instances where my folks did it, um which you know, is is the best thing I ever got from them is who I am. Um but real quickly, I know we're run out of time. Um your folks, you know, I I I I lived there for so, you know, so many important years of development. And um I always remember with your dad, you know, we would always sit at the table and we would get life lessons all the time from your dad, right? Um and like you said, I would try and piece the words together to see what they were, but I I I got the gist of it all. You know, he was he had so he had far more confidence in me and who I was than I had in myself. You know, and and he he would always, you know, prop me up and and and and speak so well of me. You know, it's something that always lasted with me, you know, because I had, you know, low self-esteem, you know, for for you know, many reasons, but you know, he would always be the one, you know, would be propping me up and I would I would feel great about it. And one last thing, um, and I know you know this. I sold my my first baseball card to go to your dad's funeral, to travel to your dad's funeral.

SPEAKER_04 24:16

Uh I do rem I mean that is touching. It really was touching then and it still is now.

SPEAKER_03 24:23

You know, and and I'll never forget, you know, you know, just because you you know, times were tough. We were a young couple, you know, young married couple, a lot of kids and all stuff like that. So money was tough, you know, and I had to find a way to get there. And I remember saying, Don't worry, if you can't, do not worry. And there was not a person in the world that I would not you know, uh he he was who I had to get to see, you know. Um he showed me so much respect for so many years I had to do it for him. And I don't forget, I stole the a really nice card, hopped on Amtrak and got to the funeral in in time, which is uh really important in who I am.

SPEAKER_04 25:06

So Well, that's that's beautiful, Pete. Thank you. Thank you for that. Um yeah, well, I hope that you all who are listening enjoyed our stories today and and maybe sparked some stories of your own about your own parents and things you learned from them and how you've carried those lessons forward in your life and in raising your own children. And, you know, if you're fortunate enough to still have your parents living, really savor the time you have with them, soak it up, soak up all any lessons they have and just the time of being together, and wish them a happy Mother's Day and a happy Father's Day. We sure wish that we could. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 25:52

Now it's time for Dr. Rocco's Rex. Dr. Rocco's Rex.

SPEAKER_04 25:59

Now it's time for Dr. Rocco's Rex. This week for Dr. Rocco's Rex, speaking of something I learned from my parents, take a walk after meals. A 2022 study of the in the Journal of Sports Medicine found that a post-meal walk, even as short as five minutes, can decrease your blood sugar. Now, I think that a lot of people, you know, eat dessert because not only does dessert taste great, right? And it feels, you know, it's like fun to have dessert. I like dessert. But I think part of why people eat dessert sometimes is to let that meal linger a little longer and just kind of like, you know, you don't want it to be over, you know. So how about after a meal, sometimes instead of having dessert, take a walk. Take a walk with the people you're with. Uh, and it's it's a way of stretching that meal out. This is something I learned from my parents. I think it's part of their culture, of course. The Italians love their passiattas, you know. That is it for my rec for this week.

SPEAKER_03 27:26

So here's a quote I I didn't come upon a while ago from an author. I I don't know their work, but Barbara Johnson, and it says, To be in your children's memories tomorrow, you have to be in their lives today. I know at times that can be hard and difficult, you know. People are are working lives, they're really busy. But there's many ways to get into your children's lives and to get into their memories. I know that is something that you know both Rock and I have done with our kids. We're very involved, but also as just listening today, we had we were blessed to have that from our parents also. So all right.

SPEAKER_04 28:10

Well, thank you all for listening today, and until next time, so long. That's all for today's show. Thanks for listening to the Life and How to Live It podcast with Dr. Rocco. If you enjoyed today's show, please subscribe and leave a review. See my show notes to find out more about the show. And remember, life is not a dress rehearsal. Until next time.