Like a Sauce on Your Life

By Sophie

"Having grandparents from Sicily . . . was almost like a sauce on your life, giving you insights on something that you didn’t quite understand, but you knew was a part of you."

Sophie: I'd always known my last name, Bongiorno, was Italian for “good morning,” and that most of the Italian dishes my mom cooks for special occasions come from generations of family recipes. But other than that, I'd never thought about what else may have been passed down from the Italian side of my family.

Sitting down with my mom one evening, I wanted to learn more. She first explained that both sets of my great-grandparents emigrated from Sicily, and eventually wound up in Massachusetts, which is where my mother grew up. Continuing on, she described:

Laura: Both my grandfathers came over, with very little education. My mother's father worked his way up from selling chocolates to all the other Italian immigrants in the south end of Boston. And he started selling stocks, um, and was very successful in the financial industry. And then my other grandfather came over and got into the produce business, and worked until he was able to have his own produce stand.

I think it really was the classic American dream. So they all came over here to help their family out, their parents out, to send money back, and to hopefully get more further education and have a richer, more successful, more… enhanced life.

Sophie: What was he like growing up? Did he have any family traditions?

Laura: Well, I grew up in an extremely loving Sicilian family that was all about family ritual, tradition, and… and joy. I mean, we spent so much time together, breaking bread on Sundays over sauce and go to Nana and Pop's house for dinner every Sunday. The South end and the North end every weekend to go get Italian bread and go to Michael's pastry for the Cannolis. And the cannolis had to be freshly filled. These specific ritual traditions were so big that it just became a part of life. That was what being Italian was all about.

Sophie: How do you think your family helped shape your ideals?

Laura: I think my parents, the way they grew up with immigrant parents themselves, we grew up with a really strong work ethic, and also, when working hard, enjoy the moments of life with the ones that you love, um… and do it in very, very special ways. So I grew up with a lot of music, a lot of laughter, um, and a lot of emotion.

Sophie: Did they speak Italian?

Laura: They did. Oh, wow. They spoke the Sicilian dialect; not that I could really decipher between Italian and Sicilian with an accent, but they just thought they—we never knew what they were talking about, and it was hysterical.

Having, you know, when you think about, um… and I'm sure every family has this, but, having grandparents who were literally from Sicily, you just had this other, like, it was almost like the sauce, and no pun intended cause it sounds really corny. It was almost like a sauce on your life, giving you insights on… something that you didn't quite understand, but you knew was a part of you.

Sophie: Mm-hmm.

Laura: So even though I didn't understand what they were saying, I knew it was a part of me.

So I think my values in life is… community, is village living, taking care of the ones that you love. And that has expanded into my work world, my work family, and now that I'm leading groups of people, um, and how I care about them. And it is… allowing your emotions to be a part of your daily creativity and existence, and doing good through loving.

Sophie: Overall, I really learned a lot from our discussion. I've realized that not only did my great-grandparents pass on their last name and recipes, but they also passed pieces of themselves down to my grandparents, my mom, and even me, through the preservation of their memory and the values they helped instill.

They helped teach us to persevere and work hard while still finding ways to have fun; how to enjoy life with, of course, copious amounts of Italian food; and most importantly, to spread love.

Laura: I love you.

Sophie: I love you too.