ROSALIE TRIOLA (Peter's Mom)

Where do I start?

I guess the best place is the day he was born, July 14, 1956. He weighed in at 8 lbs 13½ ounces and was 24 inches tall. To me and his father he was a beautiful baby boy with a mop of black hair that was beautiful throughout his life, and he had the biggest brown eyes you ever saw which, were always his most dominant feature. He took his first steps when he was 11 months old and was a healthy, robust boy who was always getting into mischief.

Once he started climbing out of his crib, I would wake up in the morning to a very messy kitchen. He was always cleaning the sink with Ajax and had my pots and pans everywhere. When he was almost three years old he had to have his tonsils out. When we brought him home he ate potato chips and, if you can imagine, stuffed peppers. We were extremely concerned that he would hurt his throat but, of course, it didn 't bother him in the least. 

When his sister, Maria was born, his father and I woke up to find him sitting in the corner of the bassinet, -- bassinets are small and Peter was always big for his age – peacefully watching her sleeping. He became very protective of her, especially when they got older and they were close — but boy, as with most siblings, did they have their share of fights! 

It's funny, now that I'm writing this, I remember things that had completely slipped my mind, like his first day of school, and the many times he got stung by Bees.

I remember one day he was out on the front lawn in Massapequa and about half a dozen bees went up his pants legs. He jumped around like mad as he was stung a multitude of times. Thank God he wasn't allergic to bee stings! Once, his daughter got stung by a bee and, being the emotional man he was, he started crying -- who better than he to know what a bee sting felt like.

Peter (I always called him Peter) was always musically inclined even at a very young age. He wanted to play the drums and was always begging us to get them. (Too noisy!) I don't recall how old he was when his grandmother bought him his first full set of drums. (We had nothing to do with it!) He ended up playing exceedingly well to say the least.

We had a two-car garage when we lived in Massapequa and he and his friends spent a lot of time in the attic above it. One night -- and this I will never forget-- he came into the house looking for candles and, naturally, his father asked him why he wanted them. Peter said that he and his friends were going to have a séance and bring back Houdini. Little did he know his father was a huge fan of the great magician, and the minute Peter said they were going to bring back Houdini in a séance, his father knew exactly what he was going to do.

As Peter went back to his friends, candles in hand, his father snuck around to the back of the garage and peeked in one of the windows. The stage was now set. Pete and his friends lit the candles and sat around in a circle holding hands. According to Dave Brimlow, the kids that were there that night were Glen Willis, Eugene Vitterelli, Vic Mason, Kevin Tourney, Tom Quedens, a couple of neighborhood girls they used to hang out with, and, of course, Dave Brimlow. 

As they sat there in the dark with the candlelight flickering, chanting for Houdini to return from the grave, my husband seized the moment. From the back of the garage, with his hands cupped around his mouth, he intoned “I COME” What happened next was the funniest thing I ever saw. 

I never saw a bunch of kids run so fast in my life! It was like they were shot from a gun. According to Peter, Eugene literally ran up the front of him and down his back, he was in such a rush to get out, but I will never forget the sight of Eugene running out in a mad dash and watching his legs give out under him. His Father, Maria, and I were in hysterics as we watched them running terrified from that garage. I don't think I have ever seen my husband laugh that hard before in his life. That's when they finally realized what was going on. His father loved telling that story, and every time he did we always got a big laugh.

In April of 1973 our house burned down -- Peter was 17 years old. That year we moved to Florida and lived there 4 years too long. (Nice place to visit but not to live) According to his Sister Maria, he formed a band there too, but I don't ever recall seeing him play. Peter had gained a lot of weight when we lived in Florida, and he found a doctor that specialized in weight problems. He was under his care for a year, and in that time, he lost 180 lbs. He looked fantastic. What an ego trip he was on.

In the summer of 1977 we all moved to New Jersey, but Peter moved to an apartment on the Island. (I think it was Wantaugh). The first thing he and his friends did was form a band. It featured Dave Brimlow, Joe Cattano on drums, Al Quinn on organ, Steve Lopez on bass, and Jim Bope on vocals. Aside from Joey and Dave, I don't know of anyone else.

After Dave and Steve left the band Peter, Joey, and Al recruited Elliot Jacobs and named it Railroad, which I remember well because Peter talked about it all the time. He was never so happy as when he was playing in that band. 

In March of 1980, we bought a house in Bay Shore and Peter came back to live with us. We had a huge family room with a fireplace. The first Christmas there, even though the ceiling was only 8 feet tall, Peter came home with an enormous tree at least 10 feet tall. It was a beautiful tree and we had a great time decorating it. It was the biggest tree we ever had. 

Christmas was always great. As a boy, he was always the first one up and always waited until his father and I were up before he and Maria would open their gifts. One year they opened them on Christmas Eve, didn't like it, and never did it again. After he got married we always spent Christmas together.

About 22 years ago, my brother-in-law made me beautiful clock with a pendulum and a Westminster chime, and it broke about 2 months before Christmas. I really missed that clock a lot and I knew Peter had 2 of them, which he had made himself. I asked him for one but he said no. That Christmas he bought me a beautiful Seth Thomas clock with a pendulum and a Westminster chime. He told me then as soon as I had asked for one of his clocks, he knew what he was getting me for Christmas. Every time I called him at work, which was almost every day, and he would hear the clock chime in the background, he would say proudly, “You really like that clock, don't ya ma.” Needless to say every time it chimes it reminds me of him.

On August 14, 1981, which happened to be his sister's birthday, he met his future wife Pat. They were married May 29th 1982. It was both a sad and happy occasion, as we had just lost his father 3 weeks before. 

He was one happy bridegroom. When the priest pronounced them man and wife he raised his arm and shouted “Yes!” Everyone started laughing. I have to say, that day took a little bit of the sadness away. It wasn't until he came home from his Honeymoon that he really started to grieve. He could not talk about his father without balling like a baby for a long time, as I said Peter was very emotional. 

Peter and Pat have two beautiful daughters Jessica and Angela both great girls. He was proud of them and we have a good relationship.

When he and Pat married, he was at his best, but for some reason, he began to slowly put on a lot of weight. He tried countless diets and would lose it and gain it, sometimes more than before. He was in a constant battle.

For the last 5 years of his life, he was in and out of the hospital with congestive heart failure. I think it was 2 or 3 years ago they gave him too much medication and dehydrated him. A couple of days later, he ended up back in the hospital with renal failure.

He had not been feeling well at all in the weeks after Christmas and New Year. About two weeks before he died, he ended up in the hospital again. – This last time his condition was pretty bad. We had just assumed that the scenario would be the same as usual, he would spend a week in the hospital and come out feeling better and try to lose weight again. But this time was a little different. He had, what he called, an “episode”. 

It turns out this episode was called ventricular fibrillation where the main chamber of the heart, beats much too fast – over 300 beats per minute. Within minutes they put him into the CCU unit. Later on he said that all he had felt was slightly flushed and a little dizzy.

They placed him on medication specifically for this and it seemed to be working. He started feeling better. There was going to be a snowstorm and he wanted to come home before it. On January 19th. I spoke to him about 4 o'clock. He told me he felt really good -- never dreaming he would be gone just a few days later.

I didn't realize until his wake how many friends Peter had and how much they loved him. I am in awe of what they are doing for him – This website, the benefit, and the CD. I am eternaly grateful to Dave for doing the site so that I can go on it and see what he loved doing all his life. There are times I go on to see if there is something new added and I get very emotional because it is beautiful and sad at the same time. Also a big thanks to Gary for all that he is doing and has done for the benefit. And thanks to his friends and fellow musicians for keeping his memory alive. If I know my son, he is probably looking down on us with that silly grin on his face.

God bless you all.

I remain,

Peter's Mom

P.S. If anyone would like to keep in touch, you can reach me at either rosalie1932@yahoo.com or rosalie1932@optonline.net