From Your First Grandchild...

Happy Birthday Grandma Doris! I am really happy that you are my Grandma because...
You tell great stories; You are always in fashion; You have the world's best tan year-round; You have brown eyes like me! (am I sounding conceited yet?); You love all of your children; You are my mom's mom; You are very thoughtful and kind; You know your vitamins! You have lots of energy; You like football; You're a good dancer; You like Benji the dog; You are beautiful; you are always understanding; You take risks (lottery!); You are the vest grandma! I love you very much and wish I could see you today. I'm with you in spirit...and with my mom, too. Have a super day with your children. Dayton, Ohio, misses you too: It's about 10 degrees below zero as I write. Don't you wish we'd flown you up here for your 70th birthday? I didn't think so! I love you, Grandma, and will always need your advice and support. Love, Karin

Defending Your Boys

What can you say about a Legend? No matter what anyone may say or remember, the fact of the matter is, Mom, (or the Big D as she is affectionately known,) is a legend today because she was our hero during our adolescent years. I could call your attention to countless stories to make my case, but a classic "Doris-ism" was the day my brothers P.J., Mark, and me decided to terrorize the neighborhood. Perhaps it was a crime spree that lasted several days - but over a short period of time we: threw dirt clods into our next-door neighbor's newly cleaned swimming pool; ripped a brand new bike away from the cousin of one of our football-playing buddies and sent it on its merry way down the street – rider-less; and summarily tortured the younger brother of one of the red-necks who lived around the block. And this was one of our slow weeks... When something went wrong in the ‘hood’ the neighbors always made a path to our doorstep. Usually looking for P.J. for something I put him up to because Mark was too young (or too wise) to get involved. But you could categorically say that all three Tatone bandits were responsible for this series of mayhem, and the phones started ringing and the complaints started pouring in. To be honest, we laughed about most of the vile thins people said about us. We prided ourselves on the severity of the accusations. But when the red-neck victim’s brother made his way through the Lowery’s yard smacking his hillbilly leather belt menacingly in his hand, we did start to worry a little. His arrival a t the front door didn’t’ really frighten us – we were more concerned with Mom finding out that we took up torture for a new pastime. In typical Doris fashion, she listened to the jughead at the door for about 30 seconds, then called brother Bob to the scene to handle the pest. Bobby informed the punk from “Deliverance” that he better get out of our yard before something truly evil happened – like finding a cherry bomb shoved where the sun doesn’t shine... Later that evening, or next door neighbor decided to plead his case about the dirt-clod infested pool. After all, little Andy, the future cover boy for “Knitting for Beginners” magazine, was crying his little eyeballs out because those “bad boys” next door “frew doirt in my poo.” This guy was really hacked off and was making all kinds of threats. Mom listened for about 60 seconds this time, then whipped open the screen door and proceeded to read this guy the riot act. No way could her boys have done such a thing! She shook her finger at this creep and by the end of her spiel she even had us believing we didn’t do it! It was all short-lived, however, because as soon as that neighbor was sent packing, Big D closed the door quietly and then chased us to our bedrooms until Dad came home with...”the Belt.” Yes, we were punished for our acts of local violence – but never in front of our accusers. Doris always stood up for us – even though she knew we did it and that it probably would have been beneficial to hand us over to the mob. But she never gave in, always stood her ground, and never gave up on any of us...to this very day. A legend? Certainly. Our hero? Absolutely! Will we ever forget? What do you think? Happy Birthday Mom. In his own way, Dad is the soul of the family. But you were always the heart of it. On behalf of all us bandits – THANKS! WE LOVE YOU! -Steve

Grandma Doris: an afternoon golfer, a Siesta Key beach bunny, a football fanatic, a cheesecake expert, a lottery gambler, a 'jitter-bugger', a circus/clown collector, a movie-goer, a Christmas Decor Diva, a devoted Catholic, a loyal friend, a wonderful Mom, a legend...and my Grandma. I'll never forget to do my nails 'like you taught me', I'll never forget your secret sauce recipe, I'll never forget your hugs - your laugh - or how you never forgot my birthday, I'll never forget our shopping trips, I'll never forget your condo at Caserina and how you always decorated for every season, I'll never forget your keen sense of fashion - always looking sharp!, I'll never forget the cuddle-crop-socks you always wore around the house so your feet didn't get cold (I still wear mine too ), I'll never forget your Benji dogs - always there to greet us :) , I'll never forget YOU Grandma - I miss you...I love you...Thank you for your love and sharing your beautiful self with me.

Love, Courtney