THE GOODFELLAS

Nick and Jack are the two oldest of their group of siblings, born 16 months apart. Joseph and Michael are the two youngest brothers, and are 12 and 14 years younger than Nick.

Nick met Ed and Mike in 7th grade and quickly became friends with each of them individually, but not realizing until later that they were both already friends with each other. Over the next couple of years, as Nick, Ed and Mike became better friends, Jack and Denis also became closer within the group. In time, Joseph and Michael were added to the group, and they all began calling themselves The Goodfellas, after one of their favorite movies.

This group of seven misfits have been there for each other through everything. Weddings, funerals, the births of children. You name it, they’ve shared it. Thanks to ever-improving technology, they started a text message group conversation many years ago that continues daily, and contains all of the support and ridicule that you would expect a group of such close friends to give each other.

Michael first introduced the term “our dead dad” while texting separately with Nick about their dad a year after his passing, and it was something that has stuck ever since. All of the guys have lost their dads (Mike in 2002, Ed and Denis in 2020, and the four brothers in 2021), and have jokingly referred to their fathers as their “dead dads” since.

In early 2024, Nick began to lay the foundation for a podcast centered around conversations of grief, trauma, loss and moving forward. He began by telling his own story of growing up with his dad and their very complicated relationship as adults. He moved on to interview his three brothers and three friends, which has since led to interviewing many others who have courageously shared their personal stories and grieving processes.