Stories From The Fam: Did I tell you about the time…

My Grandfather came to America?

Preamble

His parents arrived in Chicago when his mother was pregnant with him. When his father got sick he was told that it was “the city air” and that he should move back to “the country” (It was 1920ish, we now know it was Parkinson’s disease). So my great grandfather packed up his remaining unmarried children and moved back to “The Old Counrty”. Thus, my Grandfather was born in Chicago, but raised in Sicily.

More than a decade later he decided to move back to America. He was 17. If you asked him why he left Sicily he would say (thick Italian accent implied) “In Italy they giva me a gun and bullets, in America, the bullets they fita the gun.”

In preparation for the trip he had some postcards made of himself in a photography studio so that his older sisters would recognize him when he arrived. There he was, 17 years old, standing 5 foot 2, proud as could be, in his suit with a cigarette in one had and a cane in the other (maybe I can get my parent’s to scan the photo as a bonus item).

He took a boat to NYC, I guess nothing interesting happened on the trip because he never told me about it, but the train, the train made for a story…

His father had paid for his entire passage from Sicily to Chicago, food and board included. So, when he got on the train to Chicago, he decided to claim his meal in the dining car. In his words; I no speaka the English, so I putta the finger (i.e. he blindly pointed to the menu). The waiter brought him a DRY cheese sandwich. Naturally, he was thirsty. He gestured to the waiter as if drinking an imaginary glass of water. The waiter pointed the beverage area of the menu. So, he putta the finger, and the waiter brought him a beer. Mind you he had had wine at home, but he wasn’t familiar with beer and thought he had been served some kind of soda.

Before long he no feela so good. So, he decided to go lay down in the sleeping car. As he entered the red-lit car he saw a man approaching from the other side. He didn’t speak of course (because he no speaka the English) so he politely gestured for the man to pass him by. The man, in return politely gestured for him to pass. He took a few steps forward and again stopped to gestured to the man to pass, who in kind gestured for him to pass. Now he was getting frustrated. In his semi-intoxicated state, he decided "screw it, I’ll just ram him." So, he started walking really fast toward the guy, intending to bump shoulders.

He found himself lying on the floor in the sleeping car. When he looked up he saw a mirror, not a man, at the opposite end. Needless to say he looked around to see if he had been observed and quickly ran out of there.