Annette Rossi celebrated her 71st birthday on July 25 at her new home in Tennessee, which happens to be next door to her son Greg and his family. With three sons and ten grandchildren, Annette has spent her entire life caring for others. She has a huge heart and is constantly looking for ways to make her family and friends around her happy.
And while doing all that, she remains joyful and appreciative of the life she gets to live.
“Mom is very determined, resilient and fearless,” Annette’s son Jeff said. “She is very optimistic and always finds the positive in every situation.”
You do not have to spend too much time with Annette to realize where her priorities are. She ensures her loved ones are taken care of, and as a mother in particular, you would have difficulty finding someone who has had the same influence on their children and young grandchildren as Annette.
“She is my mother and has had a profound impact on me, showing me the value of hard work, helping others, and spending time with and taking care of your family,” her eldest son Tom said. “Also, her supporting me not only helped me get through some things, but also taught me how important that could be to others.”
Annette raised her boys to be strong, independent men, and now they are raising their own families. That – along with everything else – makes her as proud as can be, as she has always been a present mother… and it shows.
“My favorite moment with Mom is from my childhood,” Jeff said. “I enjoyed coloring and we enrolled in a coloring contest at a local supermarket. She helped me color the page very neatly and with lots of different colors. I won the contest and received a giant bear. I was so happy to spend time with Mom coloring the page and seeing the results of our effort!”
That speaks testaments to who Annette truly is, as all three of her boys love being around her. She remains a foundation of love and support for them and has planted the morals and values they live with today.
“She is so proud of our three sons and their families,” Annette’s husband Steve said. “They all graduated from top-tier universities (two from the Ivy League – Harvard and Cornell), and have loving wives and families and successful careers. Some of our proudest moments have been attending their weddings, being close by for the births of our grandchildren, and attending their graduations at Harvard, Cornell and Rensselaer, and later at Columbia Medical School.”
“Annette is extremely organized and involved, which enabled me to focus on my career and concentrate on fun things with our sons and grandchildren,” Steve added. “One example is that she almost single-handedly moved our three sons (all under the age of 6) and our limited furnishings from Ohio to New Jersey while I was working in New York. She kept close track of our sons’ progress throughout their school years. She has been the best mother and Nana I could imagine for our sons and grandchildren.”
So much of her sons’ successes can be directly attributed to Annette’s care and her enthusiasm. She always encouraged her boys to achieve, and that is exactly what they did.
When asked what he has learned from Annette over the years, her youngest son Greg said, “One is commitment. Mom is always active in doing things and seeing things through. She never did stuff halfway. She was on the PTA, taught CCD classes and, and was team mom for countless teams. Even if it was something she didn’t want to do, she was integral in teaching me how to suck it up and get things done. That really hit home in terms of pushing and applying yourself.”
“She’s taught me a lot too,” Greg’s wife Stephanie added. “She’s one of the best to learn from. She’s very loving, very caring, and great at cooking. She taught me many things in that department. She’s someone I can go to for anything.”
Tom’s wife, Erin, also reinforced these sentiments, saying, “Annette has been an exemplary example of dedication and love to her family. She has selflessly and tirelessly helped our family after the births of our children, and during other challenging times in our lives. We are eternally grateful.
“Annette has always done so with a sense of humor and what seemed like endless energy. Annette has always amazed me with how efficient she is in every task. When presented with a problem, Annette has always taken the time to consider a more agile way. She naturally has a problem-solving mind, to everyone’s benefit. I see this reflected in her son Tom, and I hope to see this mirrored in her grandchildren as they grow.”
Jeff’s wife Ashley added, “It is clear to me how much time, effort and dedication Annette has devoted to raising her boys. Her deep love for them is evident as she is always willing to do whatever it takes to ensure they have everything they need. She has been a consistent and dependable force in their lives and deserves to be celebrated.”
Her hands-on approach as a mother has now poured over into grandmotherhood. Affectionately called Nana by her grandchildren, they love seeing her, playing with her, and are often spoiled by her.
“The kids love their Nana,” Greg said. “They’re always excited to see her and do things with her. My oldest still talks about baking cookies with Nana for Christmas. It’s fun to see things she would do with us and see her do it with the grandkids. Mom’s a mom to three boys, so it’s fun to see her as a grandma to granddaughters. My daughter just got her ears pierced and she just gave her some jewelry from her jewelry set.”
Tom added, “Nana is an amazing mother and amazing grandmother. Watching her (and Grandpa) get close to my kids to the point that they always want to see her is something special. The grandkids adore her and love spending time with her.”
Year in and year out, Annette does not slow down. She has not stopped being a matriarch and role model, and she has spent an entire lifetime touching her family’s lives and setting the tone for future generations.
“Nana always volunteered for things growing up, trying to help the community and her children through the PTA and other student activities,” Tom said. “She never hesitated to get involved and try to make it a little bit better for us and others.”
Annette is a woman full of traditions too. Steve said, “We have decorations for every holiday and season, which has made our home a special place all year. This is especially true for Christmas. At Christmas, she decorated the house inside and out, hosted a Bunco party for over 25 friends, and cooked and served Christmas or Christmas Eve dinner.
“Maybe the biggest Christmas tradition was baking hundreds of cookies with her friends, Mary and Linda. This tradition expanded to include her granddaughters in the last couple of years. She also bakes pizzelles for her sons and families frequently. Our granddaughter Josephine always asks if we have waffle cookies when she visits.”
Greg added, “Mom truly made our house a home. She always decorates for the holidays. That consistency and sense of tradition growing up really grounds you in what it means to have a home and be a part of a family. That is something I want for my children.”
While Annette has always been primarily focused on her family, she has many friends and has been significantly involved in the community, primarily through youth sports and church activities.
“You are more than a friend; you are a sister,” wrote Mary Kussler and Linda Bell. “Together, we have shared weddings, showers, graduations, holidays, and religious events with our families. We support each other at times that are difficult, not just now, but through our loss of loved ones and life’s disappointments. Thanks for always being there.”
Annette has also remained very close to her family. She talks to her sisters, Roxanne and Karen, almost every day, and is also close to her brother, Jim.
“I love you and have enjoyed many of our escapades or little incidents that somehow always occurred when we were together and got us in trouble,” Roxanne Carifo, Annette’s sister, said.
“As Annette’s younger brother, who just happened to be born on her 7th birthday, I have always joked that being the fourth and fifth of five children, our parents couldn’t afford for us to have our own birthdays,” Jim Carifo said. “Annette is the godmother of my son and eldest child Jon Carifo. She is an aunt to my daughter, Gia. Both have fond memories of her Thanksgiving meals.”
At the end of the day, there is one thing that everyone can agree upon about this woman: that her three kids, their families and 10 grandchildren are her lifeblood. She lives and breathes for them.
“She was born to be a mother,” Greg’s wife Stephanie said. “She lives her whole life to provide. That’s what brings her the most joy in life. She takes such good care of all of us.”
Her son Greg concludes, “We love you, Mom. Thank you so much for showing me what it means to be a family and what commitment and marriage is. Thank you for taking care of everyone.”
Her husband Steve summarizes, “We have had a life together we could have never imagined in 1978 when we got married. Most importantly, we raised three sons who have successful careers, their own families, and 10 grandchildren! But while we might have imagined that result, we could not have guessed the path we took to get there.
“Annette and I came from small towns, but our family ended up living in metro New York City for over 35 years. We did so many special things together – we went to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, Broadway shows, the World Trade Center observation deck (both old and new), the Statue of Liberty, TV show tapings, museums and Yankee games. We also went to Daytona and Disney World for 10 straight years during our sons’ spring breaks from school. When our kids were grown, we toured Italy together with two of our sons and their wives and saw Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome and the Vatican.
“We have also made many trips in recent years with our children and grandchildren to Disney World and Disneyland. Our family celebrated several New Year’s Eve together in Las Vegas with Annette’s family. We took a golfing trip to Scotland with Greg and my brother’s family. After our retirement, we added a vacation house in Las Vegas, which we also used as a base to tour Los Angeles, San Francisco, national parks, and the West Coast before settling down now to be in Florida and Tennessee near our sons and their families. It has been a wonderful journey together.”
You can say she is irreplaceable. You can say she is one of one. She is the conductor who keeps the train on the tracks.
No matter how you look at it, though, it is definite that Annette is the rock and matriarch of her family, and they love her with all their hearts.
