My Grandma is 85 years old, and when she was 24 she left the only place she ever lived, and moved to America. She sits down at the smooth wooden kitchen table, with a white table cloth over it and tells me her story.

My Grandma lived in Italy with her Mom and Dad, until her dad got very sick and he passed away when she was very young. Her mom then remarried after mourning the loss of her husband and had 3 other kids with her new husband. It was very sad for my grandma when her dad died, she was very close to him and loved him a lot. Next to her soft, flower bed, on the white bedside table, she still has a picture of my Grandma, her dad, and her mom when she made her first communion. My grandma was in a white, flowered, lace dress, and her parents were in a solid black dress, and a black suit. Today she's wearing a scratchy purple sweater, and her favorite pair of blue jeans, which have a small pink flower on the right leg. 

My Grandpa was visiting France, because that's where he is originally from, and decided to make a big trip out of it.  My grandpa always loved traveling and taking long drives during random times of the day. He always used to stop by my house or any of my cousins houses and either bring us presents or just want to take a ride with someone. He then decided to also stop in Italy, because he has never been there before. When he got there he met my grandma at a small little cafe. They sat down at a table together and began to talk to each other. After that they hung out all the time and he would try and teach her a little English because at the time she only spoke mostly Italian.  Once she moved to America she became more fluent in both languages, and to this day she can have a conversation in English, and immediately transition to Italian. 

After hanging out together for a while, they started dating. They married in Italy and had 1 son, they decided to get married there because they wanted to make it official before heading to America. In 1959, they finally decided to move to America. My grandpa got back by taking a plane while my grandma and uncle took the boat. They decided to go by boat because she was moving her whole life to America and she needed lots of space to store everything. My grandma and uncle took a boat from Italy all the way to New York because that is where my grandpa was picking them up and then driving all the way to Vermont. It took about 9 days to make the trip. “It was wonderful, it was like a big vacation” my grandma said with a big smile on her face. My grandma loved America because “everything was something new to me.” Her biggest struggle was having to leave all of her family behind in Italy. It was the only place she ever lived but she loved my grandfather more and wanted to live in America with him. When the 3 of them arrived in Vermont, my grandma and uncle finally got to meet the rest of their family. She got to meet her Mother in Law, aunts, and uncles for the first time, “They all welcomed me so nicely, I loved them.”  When they finally settled down in America, my grandparents had to start making a life for themselves, and support their family. My grandpa would work all day, while my grandma would work around the house and take care of my dad and uncles. When my grandpa got home from work and they wanted to go have fun they would go out to the movies or go out to dinner together. When asked what she would do for fun in Italy she said, “I loved to dance, that was my passion back then.” She also liked taking walks with her friends in the street and going to see movies. 

She regrets nothing about what she has done here or anything about this whole experience, “I would change nothing, I am very happy here.” She does miss little parts about Italy. Her siblings still live there and have kids of their own. She talks to her sister almost everyday on the phone, and 2 summers ago, her niece and her niece's son came up for an entire summer and we spent everyday with them, doing every fun thing we could think of that would make their first experience in America great. That summer was probably one of her favorite summers. It also helped because the summer before was when my grandpa passed away suddenly, and that was the first summer without him in over 30 years. 

Having a huge smile on her face during the whole interview, it shows that these are some of the most special memories she has. Not only getting the opportunity to move to America, but all the adventures she got to take, all of the memories she got to make with my grandfather, and getting to meet new people.