All four of my grandparents came as teenage immigrants from Sicily to the US with their parents at the beginning of the 1900s. I believe that the families all knew each other in Sicily, and that they moved to the US in order to better their lives, which they did, despite the fact that the Great Depression happened soon after they arrived. My Great Grandparents opened up grocery stores, one on the north end of my small hometown of Helena, Arkansas, and one on the south side of town, both near the Mississippi River. The small grocery stores were on the first floor, with the family residences on the second floor. I don’t know exactly when the grocery stores were first opened, but I do know that my Grandparents helped out in the stores, and then eventually owned them themselves, and my Parents then helped as they were growing up. Both sets of Grandparents had the foresight to buy up property on the block as they could afford it. (These were small “shotgun” type houses in poor neighborhoods, typical of homes of the Depression era.) My Grandparents worked hard, paid their bills, served the Lord through their church, and acquired a good reputation in town, even though they never had much money. I feel that I inherited (but, more importantly, was taught) a strong work ethic from my Grandparents (and my Parents as well) that is based on faith, honesty and hard work. I feel very blessed to be from a wonderful hard working Italian immigrant family.
