Perspectives of Granddaughter & Grandmother
Sometimes the most unlikely minds think along the same lines. The morning of the day my granddaughter Kaleigh posted the statement below on our company Facebook page, La Gioia Vita, I had been thinking of the current situation as pertains to survival in general. Here is what Kaleigh had to say and below are my thoughts of that morning. On the Facebook post I had answered “Kaleigh, you were in my brain this morning”. We are two generations apart in years.
Mary Ann: On this same morning, I was thinking about my own grandparents who had immigrated from Naples and Sicily and were in their early 30’s, when the 1918 pandemic was in full swing. They had, each set, several young children, didn’t speak much English, were laborers in the factories of the Naugatuck Valley in Connecticut, and struggling to keep it all afloat, then 10 years later had to survive The Crash of 1929 and the ensuing 10 years of economic crisis.
How many times did I sit at the table when my Mother, Fannie and her two sisters, Rose and Carrie, would talk about the Depression; how as young girls they had “piece work” to complete each night to bring income to the family.
My point is they all dealt with sickness, economic crisis, and inequities - due to their status as immigrants with limited education and limited English. Nevertheless, they held their heads high, worked harder, looked forward to the future, focused on survival, and held their families tight. They drew their strength from the knowledge of who they were and staying true to themselves, their culture, and traditions.
I do believe that a grounded optimism and faith in our humanity is what will pull us through 2020 and the next years of healing. As the aftermath of 9/11 proved, when we work together within our families, community, and Nation we can survive.
As Kaleigh, their Great, Great Granddaughter put it ….” because being surrounded by history and culture made the day to day crap we deal with seem so mundane and unimportant.”
Finally, I agree with Kaleigh who said it best –
“Until we can travel again, have hope and carry on.”
