“Mama had a great sense of humor,” Merlo said. He fondly recalled the story about his mother, who became a proud and patriotic American citizen, returning to Italy and saying, with both dismay and sarcasm, that “you needed a match to find the tiny Italian light bulbs”. Laughing as well, he also recounted how his mother took great delight in the story about the penny-wise immigrant who had a quarter slip out of his pocket and “down the hole” in the outhouse and then, mumbling, tossed down a $10 bill—to make it worth his while to retrieve the quarter.