In 1964 I turned 18 and was drafted into the Army. I was trained as a medic and assigned to Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, where I took care of my fellow comrades who had been wounded in Vietnam. Several dear friends were serving there at the time. In May 1965, I began caring for an outpatient named Mr. Garza. He was a World War II veteran who would later become my father-in-law.

He really enjoyed Italian food and, knowing I was of Italian descent, asked if I knew how to cook. When I told him that I used to help my grandmother make fresh pasta, he invited me to his house to cook a meal for him and his family. That night I phoned my mother in Valley Stream, asking her to mail me step-by-step instructions for making sauce and pasta. She did and I memorized them.