Felice's Farm.

My father, my children's Nonno, was five years old when he began working the family land in the mountains of southern Italy. Not helping. Working. That was what his family needed, and even then he understood something that would define his life: when people depend on you, you show up.

By twelve he was driving a truck for his uncle, going farm to farm at first light to collect milk from the neighbors and carry it to the caseificio, where it became cheese before the day was over. He also climbed onto the family tractor and used it to power a water pump, helping other farmers bring water to their fields.

He later served in the Italian Army as a truck driver. In 1966 he immigrated to the United States, carrying little more than his determination and the hope of building a better life. New York did not give him an easy beginning. He worked hard, humble jobs and did whatever was necessary to provide for his family. Eventually he managed a fruit store, where customers, neighbors, and coworkers all came to know him the same way. Everyone loved him.

In 1972, through years of hard work and sacrifice, he bought our family farm, the one our family still stands on today. He never really stopped being that boy on the hillside; he just did the same work on different soil.

His name was Felice. In Italian, felice means happy. He liked to point that out, and then prove it: Felice di nome e di fatto, felice ogni giorno. Happy by name and by fact, happy every day. That was how he carried himself, through the early mornings, the hard seasons, and the years far from home.

Going back to our home in Italy without him is painful. The land is still there, quiet in places where the family used to be. So instead of letting that silence settle, we decided to restore the land into an olive grove in his honor, and give other families a place to keep someone's name alive the way we are keeping his.

We are building a founding grove of 1000 dedication locations across two lots on the family land, Lotto Felice and Lotto Mattina. Each dedication funds the planting and care of an olive tree carrying someone's name on a plaque beside it. If the idea resonates with enough families, the grove grows in stages, and everyone who reserves a dedication is treated fairly under our published refund terms.