Italian Roots

It could have been the carefree nature of childhood, or the general lack of concern at the time, but growing up, at least in the elementary years, I never questioned my families heritage or cultural background too much. I recognize it is a problem and it happens, but I was also lucky enough to never of had to deal with any social backlash for my culture or heritage which might be another reason why I never had to question things. In Jose’s case in the story he told us, he unfortunately had to hide a lot of his family’s background from people rather than embrace it, and though he became successful otherwise, his history still impacted his life out of fear of being found undocumented. That being said, I am appreciative that when I eventually inquired about and learned of my heritage, I was able to take pride in it and embrace certain aspects of it. Eventually, I , along with my curiosity, grew up, and I don’t remember the exact circumstances but I remember my parents telling me that I was about 50/50 Irish and Italian, due to the heavy Irish genetics on my mom’s side and Italian on my dad’s. Although there was essentially equal influence on my family, I always feel that myself an my immediate family always seemed to embrace the Italian roots the most. If I were to guess I would say it was because, on my dad’s side, my great-grandmother was still alive and well through my early childhood, and she herself was born and raised in Sicily until her late teen years when she moved to the greater Boston, MA area to start a life. I believe that having her around during family gatherings and visits, helped me absorb some of the culture, weather it was through her cooking or stories she would tell through broken English, I identified with it and felt the obligation to carry on that heritage through my own life. I remember it being an assignment in middle school that pushed me to learn as much as I could about my family, more than the surface knowledge. The assignment pushed us to learn about our heritage then discuss it in the next class, so when I got back home, I went to talk to my dad and see if he had anything to bring to the table regarding, his grandmother, my great-grandmother, “Nona” as we called her. He went on to tell me about when she came to this country she had opened a sub shop/convenience type store in Lynn, MA, the city that I along with most of my family lived in or originated from at some point. In her business and work she was always a very prideful person and everything she sold food wise was made from the freshest ingredients in the most authentic way possible. The moral of everything he told me was a lesson in hard work, authenticity, pride and the self-made spirit, that I can attribute to my great grandmothers culture.

All factors considered, I feel that in my own life, the knowledge of and maybe even the genetic presence of who my great grandmother was and my family tree, has impacted me in a few different ways. I feel that the hard work ethic , that I may have not always applied in school, has rubbed off on me in other more professional aspects, such as me having and holding a job since the state would legally allow me to, 24 hours a week since sophomore year and the overall pride I take in that work, though it is just a kitchen job, goes hand and hand with some of the values instilled in my family generations back. Sometimes I also wonder if the reason why I have always enjoyed cooking/working with food and imagined myself opening a restaurant at some point , has something to do with what my great grandmother did and even with my dad also carrying the torch in that way with her recipes. In comparison to Vargas’s story, I feel we differ in a few ways. Him speaking as a first generation immigrant and me speaking as someone a few generations away from an immigrant is a different dynamic, and another thing that separates us is the lack of documentation. Unfortunately, It is the lack of documentation that is keeping him from embracing his culture or having any outgoing form of pride in it whatsoever, which is a shame. But in principle, what his mother wanted him to find in America is exactly what my great grandmother was looking into for her eventual kids and family, and it seems there is common ground, documentation or not that should unite people in this country, the striving for opportunity and a better life should be a point of bond rather than a point of controversy. It is a powerful thing, especially when analyzing or being a result of generations of hard work and drive.

Photo on Foter.com