A family surprise turned out to be “in good hands” with Allstate insurance company.
When David Patinella got married recently, one person was missing from the celebration. David’s father, Guisto Patinella, lost a 10-year battle with cancer in 1994.
But thanks to a request from David’s sister, Gina Witt, a family lore dating back nearly 50 years proved true. And the discovery made David’s special day more than he could have imagined.
Dad’s 15 Minutes Of Fame With Allstate
It begins in 1971 when Guisto, a school teacher in Kankakee, Illinois got rear-ended by another car. He felt so pleased with the Allstate’s service that he starred in a commercial for the company. The family always knew their father was in the commercial. However, David and Gina had searched for years for a copy of the ad. Unfortunately, they could not find it.
That is, until Gina decided to write to Allstate.
‘”Hello, I’m desperately hoping you can help me find my father’s television commercial,'” she read from her letter in a video posted by Allstate. ‘”My dad did a television commercial for Allstate in 1971. His name was Guisto Patinella. My brother is getting married this summer and I would love to have this ad to surprise him with.'”
The family has multiple photos and videos of their father, but no audio or video clips. They had not heard his voice is more than 20 years.
That all changed when Allstate was able to find the 46-year-old commercial and surprise David just one day before his wedding.
An Emotional ‘Reunion’
As you can imagine, he was emotional seeing his father on the screen. The whole thing was captured on video.
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“We always talk about how we wish he could be there for the wedding, so, yeah, it’s awesome,” David said. “He was my original best man.”
Although he wasn’t able to be at the wedding in person, this trip to the past ensures Guisto was there in spirit.
“I just couldn’t believe so many people went through all this to make this all happen,” David said. “I’m gonna watch it a million times…it’s the best present ever.”