A 98 year old woman was rescued from the rubble of the earthquake in the Abruzzo region of Italy after being buried almost four days. When asked what she did to keep occupied during that time, she said, “I worked. I knitted.” My mother’s family is from that part of Italy. I understood exactly what she meant. My Zeccardi relatives would have done the same thing. I know now where I come from and why, if there was ever a nuclear war, my cousins from that side of the family would emerge from the bomb shelters as soon as the shelling stopped and wonder why everyone else was going back to work too. Oh My God! These are my genes and I can’t escape them.