Loving Each Other Even More

Philip Pellerito and Venera (Vera) met in high school when he first arrived in New York from Italy. He said the first thing he loved about Vera was her beautiful smile. They were in the same class and became friends right away. Vera invited Philip to her “Sweet 16” birthday party and shortly after, he found the courage to ask her out. That was February 15, 1972, and as he said, “it’s been history ever since.”

They got married on June 26, 1977, and had two wonderful children, (Antonio and Rosario), and now have a beautiful granddaughter, Isla. Like all relationships, the years have seen a few ups and downs, but they are “still together and much more in love.”

When they found out about Vera’s ALS diagnosis, Phillip said, “I honestly didn’t know what it was, but little by little we have learned how to deal with it, and even though it’s a pretty terrible thing, we have managed so far to live with it and love each other even more.”