Back in the late 1800s and into the early 1900s, Sicily wasn’t the nice and happy place it is today. Back in the late 1800s, Italy was torn by civil war because the north was living in luxury, while southern Italy was suffering from famine and government oppression. The result of this was an almost civil war, it was called Italian reunification. In which the south reunified Italy. However the same corrupt people stayed in power, and things only got worse. Sicily was heavily taxed into the ground, and almost everyone living on the island was in poverty. The resulting situation caused thousands of Sicilian immigrants to flee to the U.S. My great-great-grandfather, Florence was one of them. After Florence came to the U.S, he had a child with his wife and they named him Lawrence, who was my great-grandfather. Lawrence was drafted to fight in World War Two among immigrants who wanted to prove themselves to their country. Lawrence came back safe and sound and married his girlfriend, Elizabeth. This represents what lengths my great-grandfather was willing to go to, to earn respect in this new country. Thank you Nanu the Great, we will never forget you.
 

– LJG

Relationship:  Im/migrant who arrived as a child Im/migrant who arrived as a child