Falling Comes Naturally: A Story of John Digitale. American Risotto No. 9
Grandpa wanted to stop my cantankerous mare from rearing up. But that wouldn't happen before I first learned what it feels like to fall off a horse.
The Woman Left Behind: A Story of Joseph Pike. American Risotto No. 11
A 49er endures hardship. But what about the woman who stayed at home and held together their family? Joseph Pike, my great-great-grandfather would find out. His wife Sybil went 10 months before receiving a letter from him. He first wrote in September 1850 soon after reaching the gold fields of California. She wrote back in March 1851 to tell him that “there is not a day goes over but what I lament the decision we made when the question was asked, ‘Shall you go?’”
The Wayward Son: American Risotto No. 12
When our parents objected to our dating relationship, Carol obeyed her folks and agreed not to go out with me. Eventually she and her siblings changed her parents' minds and won permission for her to date me. But I rebelled from my parents. The result was an alienation that cut two ways.
“American Risotto:” A link for more of the backstory
A chance to learn more about the characters of the "American Risotto" vignettes. They include a Sabbath-keeping Gold Rush prospector, a fierce-sounding cattle rancher and an 18-year-old girl brought to the U.S. in an arranged marriage.
