L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 6 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS Italian home cooking, and we tried to instill the love of family traditions into our 3 d a u g h t e r s . M y h u s b a n d passed away 3 years ago, but we are still carrying on. And my girls can together create a n a m a z i n g F e a s t o f t h e Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve…". K a t h l e e n C u r a t o l o H a n n a h s a y s s h e f e e l s "Blessed beyond words. The culture, values, work ethics, hospitality, love of family and food are on the short list. Honestly, cannot image my life without my Sicilian heritage. Proud and loud! I'd shout it out if I could. It m e a n s e v e r y t h i n g a n d i s indeed my identity," stres- sing once more the strong connection between herita- g e , i n a l l i t s f a c e t s , a n d identity. Denise Merola Lesko s e e s h e r h e r i t a g e a s w a y more important than her n a t i o n a l i t y : " I c o n s i d e r m y s e l f I t a l i a n A m e r i c a n first. Every one of my ances- tors were born and raised I t a l y , " w h i l e S t e p h a n i e M a r t i n o D i B e l a r d i n o t h i n k s b e i n g A m e r i c a n comes first, but that herita- ge must be respected and kept alive, always: "(Being Italian-Americans) means, first and foremost, I am an American. But, it also means that I do not want to lose the culture and history of my Italian ancestors." Dora Roma offers us a hint of poetry with her beau- tiful words: "It means that h a l f m y b o d y i s m a d e o f white sands, sea breezes, olives groves on mountain tops, redolence of cappucci- no throughout the city at 6 am, surge of soccer chants pouring out of the windows o f a S u n d a y a f t e r n o o n , m o u n t a i n s p r i n g w a t e r s , c o o l i n t e r i o r s o f a n c i e n t c h u r c h e s , a n e t w o r k o f Roman roads that extend to the Black Sea, funghi sott'o- lio, solitary walks up hill tops, scent of wet violets in spring, village summer festi- vals celebrating from trotta to cinghiale to fagioli, the s y m p h o n y o f f o u n t a i n s . " Indeed, even in its simpli- city, Italy remains special. D o n a t a C a l a b r e s e knows that, for her,, being I t a l i a n - A m e r i c a n m e a n s " S t r e n g t h , i n t e g r i t y a n d f a m i l y , " w h i l e J o e Granata, more prosaically but definitely not less reali- stically, says it means that, in his family, you "always ate well." Amen to that Joe, amen to that! Many of you honored us b y s h a r i n g a b i t o f t h e i r f a m i l y h i s t o r y , j u s t l i k e Carole Filacchione did: "When I was 7 years old, my grandparents left Italy and came to live with us. Mom and dad spoke English to me and my brother, Italian to m y g r a n d p a r e n t s a n d I learned what made our fam- ily what it was and is today: love, pride, honesty, hard w o r k e r s , c u s t o m s p a s s e d down from one generation to the next. AND I learned to speak Italian: far from p e r f e c t b u t e n o u g h t o b e understood when I was in Italy." M i c h e l e M a z z a g a t t e remembers how his grand- father "travelled by ship for 3 months, with $27 in his pocket to start his own life. From Sicily to Ellis Island, in 1918. He married my pre- cious grandmother and had three boys in Rhode Island. Then, off to California, were each boy married and had their own family. Michele F. Mazzagatte passed in 1974, a t 7 4 , B i a n c a N i C a s t r o Mazzagatte passed in 2010 at 98. They had three chil- d r e n , t e n g r a n d c h i l d r e n , three great grandchildren. O u r f a m i l y i s t h r i v i n g i n C a l i f o r n i a , N e v a d a , a n d Colorado." There is so much love and so much pride, in Michele's words. While we walk towards t h e e n d o f o u r l a s t 2 0 2 0 H e r i t a g e M o n t h o p e n i n g p a g e s , w e m e e t F r a n Rutigliano. Her words are p a r t i c u l a r l y m e a n i n g f u l because she was born in Italy and came all the way to t h e U S w i t h h e r p a r e n t s , over 60 years ago. Her voice tells us a story of love and pride that transcend borders and that brings together the two sides of the Atlantic as if they were two neighboring villages: "I came to the USA w i t h m y p a r e n t s o v e r 6 0 years ago. I remember the excitement of everyone on the deck when passing the Statue of Liberty… everyone clapping, chanting AMERI- CA. There were many tears — of joy, as we were looking forward to a better future, b u t a l s o o f f e a r f o r t h e u n k n o w n . T h e r e w a s t h e heartache of leaving fami- lies, the motherland and all that we had known behind. " W e e n d u r e d h a r d s h i p and yes, even prejudice. We learned a new language, new customs and ways of living. We also incorporated the values, faith, culture and customs of our motherland, Italy, in our new home. And we e m b r a c e d A m e r i c a with affection: we were p r o u d t o b e c a l l e d I t a l o - A m e r i c a n i , I t a l i a n Americans. My mom and I became US citizens: we were proud to be in the USA and grateful for the opportuni- ties it offered us. " I h a v e c h i l d r e n a n d grandchildren born here, and to them I passed on the culture and customs of Italy, w h i c h w e s t i l l p r a c t i c e today: we jar tomatoes for sauce, we make wine and s o p p r e s s a t a . I c o n t i n u e cooking recipes and tradi- tional dishes passed on to me from mom and nonna; I t a u g h t m y c h i l d r e n t h e I t a l i a n l a n g u a g e a n d m y g r a n d c h i l d r e n c a l l m e nonna. When I do go back to visit, I speak proudly of my home, the USA. Indeed, I feel grateful and fortunate to call America my home. A n d t h e n , I f l y t h e American flag and put out my Italian flag on Columbus Day and during the soccer World Cup. And this is what Italian American means to me." W e ' d l i k e t o e n d t h i s Italian Heritage Month with t h e w o r d s o f M a r i a L . Mergola: in their simpli- city they probably hold the most profound of all messa- g e s a b o u t b e i n g I t a l i a n - A m e r i c a n , o n e t h a t t h e whole community shares: "It means being part of the t w o b e s t p l a c e s i n t h e world." I ' d l i k e t o e x p r e s s m y b i g g e s t t h a n k y o u t o a l l r e a d e r s w h o l e f t t h e i r t h o u g h t s o n L ' I t a l o - Americano Facebook page i n t h e p a s t t h r e e w e e k s : without you all, the article wouldn't have been possi- ble! Some entries have been edited for clarity. Continued from page 4 People celebrating with Italian flags (Photo: Dreamstime)

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