Carpe Diem is the memoir of Nicholas San Filippo, born in 1942 into a tight-knit Sicilian-American community on Fairmont Avenue in Newark, New Jersey. Raised in the rhythms of Sunday gravy, homemade wine, and an extended family that looked after its own, Nick's early years were shaped by warmth, hard lessons, and a fierce determination to prove himself — most memorably to the high school counselor who told him to learn how to drive a truck instead of going to college. The book traces his journey through the military, early jobs, and night school at Rutgers, before the sudden death of both his parents in 1967 forced him to step up as a provider for his younger brothers while building a life with his wife Karen. Together they raised two children — a son, Nicholas Jr., and a daughter, Kerri, whose epilepsy brought both heartbreak and extraordinary advocacy. The loss of Kerri at twenty-four is the book's most devastating chapter, rendered with raw honesty and enduring grief. Alongside this personal story runs the tale of Nick's entrepreneurial rise — from a single insurance contract to a multi-million-dollar enterprise he built, empowered others to lead, and eventually prepared for sale. Closing with a moving afterword from his son, Carpe Diem is the story of a man who seized every day not with recklessness, but with generosity, grit, and an unshakeable sense of self.