Cento anni fa…100 years ago…
100 Years ago today a Sicilian boy arrived in America. December 20, 1920, my paternal grandfather, Salvatore Sanfilippo, made his way to New York aboard the SS Madonna. An 18 year kid old who may never have left Sicily before then somehow got from Trappeto to Palermo to Naples to New York and then eventually St. Louis. I don’t know why he left. What kind of boats were going from Palermo to Naples then? How did he get from Trappeto to Palermo. (It’s a 38 kilometer. 23.6 miles) Did he go by foot? On a horse or donkey? In a cart or wagon? Did he go alone or did family go with him to say goodbye? What was going on with the Spanish Flu pandemic at that time?
How much did it cost? Did he pay for it or did his parents?
Did he stay overnight or longer in Naples? What was the boat like? How long did it take? It was horribly cold right? Crossing the Atlantic in December? And why December? Was he scared? Sad? Lonely? Did he miss the sea he grew up with? The food? His family??
I think about his story, and all my other ancestor’s stories often. I know how difficult it can be for families to move to a different neighborhood or school district. Some people agonize over just moving out of the house they grew up in, or the house they raised their children in. Parents cry their eyes out when their kids go off to live in a cushy dorm room not that far from home.
Often I think about what kind of circumstances it would take for someone to pack up and leave their country all alone. FOREVER. I think about people who were forcibly brought here as slaves and how their ancestors don’t have the luxury of pointing to a map and saying “I am from THIS place”. I think about Native Americans forced to move over and over again from their homeland against their will. Families from Syria who have been living in refugee camps for ages and with no home to go back to and similar situations like this all over the world and all through time.
When I think of that young Sicilian kid and all my other ancestors who made that journey I can’t help but think about all the people who are doing that now. Some from a place of wealth and privilege arriving here to go to a university or take a good job, others who are forced to hide in the shadows because coming here and working means someone back home can eat or maybe buy their way to safety.
If you know these stories for your family, tell your kids or grandkids. Help them understand the journey and struggles you family had to get here. Understanding this may help them appreciate the work, struggles and maybe dangers of your family’s journey and may help them empathize with the plight others are facing right now. If empathy truly is a measure of consciousness, the very act of looking at these stories through the lens of our families will help us grow and maybe make the world a better place? More whole and healed.
Salvatore’s story is on my mind now as we approach Christmas. I’m grateful he made the journey safely. I don’t know what he was looking for, but his actions shaped my existence and worldview just as the world view and destiny of millions of children are being shaped by this current time. In that spirit, I made a donation to The International Institute https://www.iistl.org/ to help immigrants arriving here in our city now who are in need of help in honor of Salvatore and Rosalia Sanfilippo. (I don’t know my grandmother’s story yet but I hope to learn it.) It feels like I threw a pebble into the ocean in terms of impact, but it’s what I can do right here and now.
Why am I writing this? I just felt compelled to acknowledge this day in some way. For Salvatore. For my sons. For my family. For anyone who has left their homelands voluntarily or not. Even if they are leaving and arriving under ideal circumstances it hard, stressful and maybe even scary. I’m grateful for my grandparent success and I pray for the wellbeing of so many who are making journeys right now.
Grazie Salvatore e Rosalia.
The picture is of Trappeto, where both my grandparents are from. I took that last year.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trappeto