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by Giuliana Palma (Author)
Small in stature, big on accomplishments.
20-year-old Maria is sent from a small town in Italy to America to claim the citizenship her father wanted for her and her oldest brother. She does not want to go! She doesn't want to leave her dad, mom, all the rest of her family, everything she has ever known...for everything unknown. But go, she did. Italian fathers in 1950 did not take NO for an answer.
Looking back at her life in America, 96-year-old Mary (as her name was changed at Ellis Island) surprised everyone, even herself. The choice to come here was not hers, but she is proud of all she has learned and achieved. This small in stature woman, broke through big barriers facing immigrants and especially women starting in 1950's America. From teaching herself English - so she could understand the baa, baa, baa, sounds of people talking...to standing up for herself - even shaking a broken bottle at a man trying to swindle her. Maria started out with little and Mary accomplished much.
After 76 years in America she still gets asked where she is from.
She did not want to go, but Maria left because her father told her to go to America. He wanted Maria and her brother, Giovanni, to claim the citizenship he had worked so hard to gain. They had to go before either turned 21. So two months before her 21st birthday, the adventure began. It was March 20th, 1950. For the very first time, they left their hometown of Moiano, Italy, in their first car ride. It took them to Naples where they took their first boat ride, a 4,400-mile, eleven-day trip to America.
Mary (as her named was changed to at Ellis Island) many times expressed anger toward her father for making her go and toward Christopher Columbus. Why did he have to discover America? Things in America were not what she expected and the challenges were many for a naturalized citizen who knew NO English. Listening to people talk reminded Mary of sheep, baaa, baaa, baaa.
Mary worked day and night and broke through barriers facing immigrants and especially women, learning to stand up for herself to the point of shaking a broken bottle at a man trying to swindle her. She returned to Italy to marry Antonio, a boy who used to visit her while the whole family watched. She had never been alone with him and their first kiss was at their wedding. After the wedding she returned to America with her husband's name but without her husband. It took six months for Mary to get all the paperwork done so he could join her in America.
They worked hard. It was not easy, but they battled and persevered to see their hard work pay off. She and her husband built a thriving business and beautiful home in Bucks County, PA. They were a good team for 66 years of marriage and were proud of their success and their sons.
Mary made America her home, and her story is inspirational and sometimes funny. When she meets new people she gets asked where she is from and she will say Bristol, PA. People will say, no, before Bristol. She will usually laugh, because she has been in Bristol so much longer than she was in Moiano; in America, so much longer than Italy.
