My Incredible father, Domenic Angelicchio, passed away on October 6th 2014. He was my best friend, my hero, and my inspiration. My dad was 100% Italian and we were planning to go on a trip to Italy to visit the place his family is from before he died, but unfortunaely, while plans were made in time, he was not healthy enough to take the trip.

The Holidays were a time when my Dad really shined, he was so generous and wanted to make sure everyone around him had a special and meaningful Christmas, especially my mother, Pat. This Christmas will be difficult for us because his presence in our household is what made the Holidays special. He is the reason Christmas is my favorite time of year. 

I have been trying to save my money by babysitting and doing odd jobs around my sorority house at Indiana University, but I cannot make enough money on my own. I would like to surprise my mom with a trip to Italy to honor and remember my father. I don't think I will be able to pull this off without help from some very kind people. I would like to keep this a surprise for my mom and hopefully she will be shocked and very  happy. 

I have some advice for anyone wanting to take "their dream trip": don't put it off. life is always going to get in the way but if its important, find a way to make it happen and go on a trip that will make incredible memories, don't wait. 

This is something we talked about doing as a family for many years and never got around to it, something was always happening that made us too busy to put time aside for a trip like this. I'm hoping we can make this trip very special and spread my Dad's ashes in the place he never got to visit, but was close to his heart.