For years I had heard the stories – my great grandfather’s four wives; my grandmother’s encounter with
What started as a class assignment had become a project which has spanned half my life and endeared me as the family “historian”. Unfortunately, I have only had the pleasure of sharing and retelling these stories at wakes and funerals, when we inevitably come to the realization that our elder relatives will not be around forever. And at that point comes an appreciation of our roots, and the sacrifices our grandparents, and great grandparents made for us.
I remember reading the journey of Ulysses in high school and feeling a sense of awe at the challenges he faced in his journeys. While the stories of Salvatore Liborio Tripi and Ignazio Quartararo will never rank among the classic literary adventures, they are, no doubt, worthy of Ulyssian comparison.
It was their fortitude, their love, their hard work and dedication to “la famiglia”- their family, that set the stage for me to arrive on this planet along with hundreds of others – all links in a chain that bridges an ocean, criss-crosses the country and spans six generations. While many of those links will never meet, we are somehow all connected.
The lives and sacrifices of Liborio, Ignazio, and Maria (all four of them), should inspire a new sense of awareness in the importance of family, which, we hope, transcend the test of time for future generations.
And while it would be sexy in some circles to be able to recount a mafia tale or two, or happen upon some clandestine mob link, this story is a testament to the fact that, unlike the perception, Liborio and Ignazio, (and overwhelming majority of Italian immigrants), made it on pure guts and determination, and honest hard work.
This is their story…