Frank hadn’t planned on college. He’d never even been out of the Bronx before. The older Giulardi brothers had joined the army, and Frank just thought he’d end up doing that too. But his senior year of
high school, he had done a drawing that got him in front of the art teacher, Mr. Benetti.
“You’re the football guy,” Benetti said when Frank walked into his office. Frank nodded, even though he no longer played. He showed him the picture he’d drawn. It was a sketch of an old man who came into his parents’ deli while Frank was behind the counter one Saturday. Benetti said he wanted to put it in a contest the school was having. When Frank showed up at the gymnasium on the day of the show, the picture had a blue ribbon tacked beside it with the words 1st Place written in gold. It was a surprise—felt like the opening of something good Frank had never even considered.
