March 2026 — My Month, My Name, My Sicily

March is personal. It always has been.

There’s something about this time of year in Sicily that feels like a release. The island
exhales. The air shifts, the light changes, and suddenly you feel it, it’s time to get back
out there. To move, to breathe, to live again. And for me, it all builds toward one day:
March 19th, San Giuseppe.

This isn’t just any celebration. This is my day. My name day. L’onomastico. And in Italy,
that means something. It’s not a passing “oh by the way”, it’s a moment. A recognition.
A celebration of your name, your history, the thread that ties you to generations before
you. My father. My grandmother. March 19th, going back to 1912. Three generations.
Same day. Same name. Tell me that’s not something.

Unlike St. Patrick’s Day, which spills into the streets in a wave of green and chaos, San
Giuseppe in Sicily feels different. Warmer. More intimate. It happens around the table. It happens in the kitchen. It happens in the way people show up for each other. There are altars, offerings, traditions that run deep, and food, of course, because nothing in Sicily exists without it.

This year, we celebrated the only way that makes sense, with friends, with family, with
way too much food, and just enough wine to make everything feel even more
meaningful. There’s laughter, storytelling, moments where you look around the table
and realize… this is it. This is what matters.

And maybe that’s what March really is. Not just the beginning of spring, but a reminder,
of where you come from, of who you are, of the people who carry your name, your
history, your heart.

And trust me, there is no better place to feel that than right here.

Paul Barraco - March 2026