Legacy of Grandpa's Grapevine

‘Legacy of Grandpa’s Grapevine’ is more than a screenplay. It is a journey with Elizabeth and Grandpa Frank to a time when family was everything, and heroes were called Grandpa.
Elizabeth Manciano, a young writer with a fear of public speaking, must find the words to describe her Grandpa Frank and the courage to say them at his eulogy. Elizabeth grew up in a small town in Connecticut. She was surrounded by her loving, and colorful Italian relatives. Elizabeth, now a writer in New York City, returns home to help prepare for her Grandpa Frank’s funeral. She discovers all the courage and wisdom she sought from her Grandpa Frank as a child is still within her, to help her face the challenges in a world filled with too many gray areas of what is moral and ethical.
‘Legacy of Grandpa’s Grapevine’ follows the childhood years of Elizabeth and the bond she had with her Grandpa Frank. The story begins with Elizabeth as an adult. She drives home to Connecticut and soon finds herself sitting in her Aunt Sophia’s kitchen. Aunt Sophia is just one of Grandma Marie’s three sisters who are perplexed with Elizabeth’s desire to stay single as long as possible. While sitting at the kitchen table eating the food sent by Italian family members and friends that will last for a decade, and still re-heat beautifully, Elizabeth spies one of her Grandpa Frank’s cigar boxes. Elizabeth begins to think back to a time when all her problems were so much easier to solve, because her world included her hero- her Grandpa Frank.
Elizabeth’s grandparents lived just across the railroad tracks in the Italian section of town, called Goat’s Island. It was there that Elizabeth learned important life lessons from her Grandpa Frank while they tended to his flower garden, or sat under his grapevine. At a young age, Elizabeth learned from her Grandpa Frank that growing up was like planting flowers; first you loosen the soil and see if it’s good to grow things, then you arrange the flowers and take a step back to see if it looks okay, next you cover the roots with a little soil and give some fertilizer and water, and finally you sit back and watch them grow. Grandpa Frank’s love for his grandchildren is apparent when Elizabeth and her cousins set the neighbor’s shed on fire, and their punishment is to rebuild the shed, or the advice he provides when Elizabeth must choose whether or not to let her best friend cross the finish line first at a high school sport event. Grandpa Frank’s zest for life is seen when he sneaks his home-made wine into the town park with his brothers-in-law, while his grandchildren are ice-skating, or he convinces Elizabeth to ask for extra candy from the neighbor’s when he takes her trick-or-treating, so he can have some candy too. By spending quality time with her Grandpa, Elizabeth got to know the local businessmen and the advantage gained by treating everyone with respect. She learned it’s okay to meet people who knock you down, because then you meet the people who help you back up- and you discover who are colleagues and who are friends. The block parties with music from Dean Martin, celebrations of couples married fifty years, cousins that went on bike rides all day and moms didn’t worry because everybody in town knew everybody’s kid- and every kid respected every adult in town. This was Elizabeth’s childhood, and it made her the adult who found the courage to stand in front of a congregation one day and talk about her hero.
‘Legacy of Grandpa’s Grapevine’ is a screen play about family, faith and love. The bond between Grandpa Frank and Elizabeth is a reminder of a time when family Sunday dinners existed, commitment to faith was more important than money, and love was a covenant-not a contract that could be broken. Grandpa Frank will inspire and awaken the human spirit that seems to have become lost in our world today. Elizabeth will remind and encourage all to treasure your loved ones and follow your passion.