The Brothers Costa

An Oral History of Love, Resilience, and Purpose

It was a genuine delight for Zulakis Creative to spend time with Gerard Costa, PhD., and Father Gabriel Costa, PhD. This project unfolded in an atmosphere of deep respect, affection, and trust, shaped by our admiration for two distinguished men whose generosity of spirit guided our conversation. Our 4-hour interview was marked by care and mutual regard, allowing their stories to emerge with honesty, grace, and an unmistakable love for one another.

The Brothers Costa: Father Gabriel Costa, PhD. (left) and Gerard Costa, PhD. (right)

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Together, the brothers reflected on their childhood in Hoboken, New Jersey, shaped equally by tenderness and threat. They speak with quiet affection about a devoted mother and a deeply faithful maternal grandmother whose steady love provided emotional shelter and moral grounding. Within those nurturing arms, they learned discipline, curiosity, and care—values that sustained them even as they survived the instability of an unpredictable and sometimes violent, alcoholic father. Their recollections are candid yet measured, offered without bitterness, grounded instead in understanding and compassion.

What emerges most powerfully is the brothers’ enduring bond. Each speaks of the other with admiration and respect, recognizing how shared hardship sharpened their sense of responsibility and resilience. Survival, in their telling, was not solitary endurance but a collective act—supported by family, intellect, and a belief that one’s beginnings need not determine one’s destiny. Their paths diverged, yet the same early lessons shaped them: protect the vulnerable, pursue excellence, and remain accountable to something larger than oneself.

That ethos carried Father Gabriel Costa, PhD, into a life of priesthood and scholarship, where mathematics became both a discipline and a delight. Alongside his academic and pastoral work, the film reveals a lesser-known passion: his lifelong fascination with baseball and sabermetrics—the rigorous, analytical study of the game through statistics and probability. He is the author or co-author of three books on the subject, an elegant extension of his love for numbers, pattern, and meaning.

For Gerard Costa, PhD., those early lessons found expression in a career devoted to the mental health and development of infants, children, and families. His work reflects a profound commitment to relationship-based care, systems of support, and the belief that healing begins when adults are equipped to nurture the youngest and most vulnerable. Together, The Brothers Costa is not simply a biography of two accomplished lives, but a testament to how love, intellect, and devotion can transform adversity into purpose—and survival into service.