The other night I was driving home from seeing my eighty-nine year old grandmother in the hospital. On the way home I could sense my father’s concern about his mother. You only get one and if you get a good one, you are lucky. He loves her whole heartedly. On this night we all realized that life is fragile and precious. Memories make a life. So, we talked about the years gone by.
As we drove home my parents started reminiscing about the “Good Ole Days.” As I sat there with my boyfriend in the backseat listening I couldn’t help but smile. They were like two young sweethearts gushing about a time in their lives that meant so much to them. I learned some very admirable things about my family.
My father, the storyteller, was going a mile a minute but one story just blew me away. So, naturally, I have to share it because it makes me proud to come from the family that I do. I’ve got good genes and I am never going to shame the family or the name.
My great grandparents, Felipe and Alessandra, came to America by way of boat. If you watched the Titanic, it was much like that, they were below deck and it was a long journey to the “Promise Land.” They had two little babies with them on the ship and they had only eight dollars to their name. That’s not a typo, again, only eight dollars could be found in Felipe’s pocket. But, it didn’t matter to them because they were leaving behind Italy for brighter, bigger things and the promise of a better tomorrow.
My great grandparents were tiny people. They were four foot nine and four foot ten. They were not grand in stature, but they were grand in heart. To leave the only life you have ever known and take a risk in America is admirable to say the least. They also had two baby boys and their futures in their hands.
“What did he do when he got here?” I asked my father. To this his famous response, “He worked hard like everyone should.” Indeed he did. Felipe, worked on the railroads when he got here. He hammered away on the tracks day after day never complaining about the hard physical labor. He was a real man and wanted nothing for free. He only wanted what he deserved after a long hard day’s work- his pay.
Why complain about it? He was living the life he only once dreamed about as a child in Italy. They went on to have five more children and keep a happy home. We often here that life was simpler back then, but not really. Every generation faces their challenges and having only eight dollars to start out with in a new country with nothing promised to you other than your individual courage can’t be easy or simpler.
I like to think my ancestors had the heart of a lion and the eye of the tiger. They left behind loved ones like so many other Europeans did back then. They weren’t welcomed with open arms all the time. Being Italian was not good enough for some people. They got called ethnic slurs and endured ridicule, but they survived. They made it. They had no choice and they wouldn’t back down despite the odds stacked against them.
Felipe and Alessandra made it to their America. They made it for themselves and their children, but they made it for my parents and me. They made it for the entire family. They took the first big step and for that I am eternally grateful and my respect is immense.
Now, in 2011 one of their last two children is laying in a hospital bed…my mommom. She just got a pacemaker for her heart and she’s going to need some therapy, but she’s going to be just fine. In four months she turns ninety years old. She’s a fighter because she comes from the “Little People” with big hearts and brave souls.
My great grandparents are watching from somewhere. Maybe they are sitting next to my mommom in the hospital right now tending to her needs. They are no doubt with her in spirit and memory all the days of her blessed life.
I hope when they look at the family from up above they say to each other, “Look where only eight dollars, a prayer, and a promise got us.”
When I think about my lineage I’m proud of the people. I’d say without question my great grandparents helped give us a better life and the promise of a brighter tomorrow. But, most importantly, they gave us family…and a great one that I love unconditionally.
