Casa Fin Family Stories: Mario's Story - Mario Fin
 I come from a loud,
musical and happy family. I am the youngest of 8 kids and they definitely saved the
best till last!!!! Having 6 sisters was mayhem…
lots of arguments and fighting over clothes. I was very lucky to have
Sandro as a brother, we used to play all the time, he always looked out
for me and we did pretty much everything together. Like the time I got
into a fight at school once and he beat up the kid and if I was ever
short of money he always helped me out.Rita, Loreta and Anna had moved out by the time I could remember, with Isabella not far behind. But I still have great memories of them taking care of me and lots of family fun  including picnics,
neighbourhood cricket matches in the street (many broken
windows), church, soccer every
cold Saturday morning,
New Years Eve parties, more church, hiding under the stairs in a
cupboard with Claudia, Veronica, Chris and a harp, St Mary’s Cathedral Boys
Choir, Rita and Isabella taking Sandro and I camping, fishing with my
Dad, Sam and Julian Gerbino - the best part of fishing was that
we more than likely went out to the local Chinese restaurant afterwards, did I
mention church?, lots of various Italian events usually wearing the
Italian National costume (Johnnie Grabbers), driving back home from
somewhere in our light blue kombi van with everyone singing and me
usually sleeping and the time Mark and Julian Gerbino, my sisters and
Sandro helped to make me a bike from scratch for my birthday. I tragically also have a memory that’s etched, when I was about 5 my sisters thought it would be a good idea to let me have a ride on the tilt-a-door garage. For a 5 year old… this was like a free ride at Luna Park only problem was I was suffering from a weak bladder. So 7 Pindari Place became Niagara Falls. They finally let me down as I was crying and everyone was laughing and I remember hitting McBowzy as she was the main offender. I met Elaine in 1998 whilst working at Sheraton Sydney Airport Hotel and from that day forth my life change forever… for the better. There is something about my Irish girl that gets me every time, so I asked her to marry me while on a trip together in Bali. We married in 2003 and welcomed our first daughter Emma Lucia (grandchild #16) into our lives in 2005. She is a cheeky, beautiful, loving and an energetic girl.  In 2009 we were blessed again with our second daughter Gabriella Cara (grandchild #18), she is a giggly, cuddly and gorgeous girl who absolutely adores her big sister. I am proud to be a member of this family and thank Mum and Dad for always making sure there was brilliant food on the table and giving us the opportunity to utilise our skills and talents. Our daughters are very lucky to have such wonderful grandparents who can teach them so much about culture, family and values. Ciao, Mario (Mozen) |