The story attached to these shoes represents the story journey my family has been and will be.This is a picture of my great great grandmother Elda Genevieve Ferretti Gneo shoes. It is her parents, Louis Ferretti and Florence Ros sia who made there journey to the United States from Italy via ship in 1891. They would arrive to New York where most of my family resides today. My great great grandmother was born in 1905 and was the fourth of eight children to be apart of the life in the new world. Elda grew up learning Italian and English but sadly over the generations the Italian culture would disappear from my family. Elda grew up to marry Angelo Gneo and although I could not get more information on her shoes, they are the shoes she wore. Her shoes represent the journey of a young girl to a fine woman. Her path led her to have two children and passed away right before I was born. Much of my family still lives in New York but that changed when my father moved to Pennsylvania to seek new job opportunities. It is there where I was born. Just like my great great grandmothers parents, they left Italy for the United States for new opportunities. When my parents moved to Pennsylvania my great great grandmothers shoes followed. They have been passed down and will continue to be. These shoes will either go to me or my siblings next. The saying walking in another persons shoes is to make others see their own point of view. These shoes represent my families journey and only in time will I see where these shoes go next. 

– Brandon Decker

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more