Andrew Beck

Period 7 2/24/99

Mr. Luizzi

He slowly opened the envelope, bewildered that the postmark was from the United States. The letter was from his cousin, Joseph, already a resident of the U.S. He was asking if Tony would want to join he and his family there. The idea had crossed his mind many times before. Rumors had claimed that the streets were paved with gold and diamonds. That land was given to men by the acres. Times were tough in Sicily as was all of Italy. The country was lucky to not have had a drastic disaster like that of the Irish and the Potato Famine. Yet it was overpopulated here. Jobs were in a shortage and wages were low. Tony had a decision to make. He would have to talk to his family tonight.

Tony was a baker at the local bakery. He was skilled in making pastries and breads. It was a trade his family had been in for generations. Tony worked the dough, massaging it with his palms. The thought of life in America was almost frightening for him. He had lived in Sicily for all his life as had his ancestors before him. To leave Italy would break a tradition in his family. Tony had known of others that had left for America. It had always appeared to the other members of the village that the person was a traitor, selfish for leaving the tightly knit community in which they all lived and which their ancestors had built.

After work had ended he grabbed his jacket and trudged home. The letter was on his mind the entire way home. He decided to talk to his wife about it.

"I received a letter from Joseph today. He is in the United States."

"Yes," said Sarah, "I know."

"What do you think?"

"I don’t know," responded Sarah, looking out the window. "I want to go, but I just don’t know."

"I want our children to have better than what we have. To be able to do what they want and to have more opportunities than we did. Finally, I want this for myself. I am sick of breaking my back doing something that my family has been doing for so many years. I want a change. I want something different and America is the answer to all that. I am restless here," Tony proclaimed.

He stood rigid pacing back and fourth through the small room that they lived in. They lived in his mother’s house and this room was the room he had lived in all his life. Sarah and Tony were recently married and money was tight. They could not afford to buy a house or rent a place to live. Besides, Sarah and Tony had a six month old son and another on the way.

"Listen to me," said Sarah, "Are you really unhappy here. If you want to go than you can."

"Why wouldn’t you come?" asked Tony.

"Because I have to take care of the kids. What if America isn’t all it is supposed to be? So what if Joseph says that it is great in America. This is our life, not his."

"You’re right, I will go alone until I have enough to get us settled."

He made preparations to leave within the next few weeks. He and Sarah informed family members and Tony told the bakery that he would no longer be working for them. On the last few days before leaving, Tony felt like, maybe it was a mistake but he tried to reassure himself by thinking of how he would be making life better for his family.

When the departure day finally arrived Tony kissed his wife on the cheek and said goodbye. For some reason he felt odd like he was making a mistake, but the continuing thought that he was doing this for his children made him feel better. Sarah bid him farewell and he grabbed his valise and hurried off the dock and onto the boat.

Tony looked at the wide expanse of ocean. While he had lived near an ocean all his life he had never seen this much water. The blackness of the sea made him feel cold. Surrounded by darkness like there was no escape and no way back to his homeland. Tony wondered what the other immigrants were feeling right now. All the hopefuls wanting a better life in the United States. Seeking more opportunities.

And as the boat approached Ellis Island and the passengers got their first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty their dreams were confirmed.

After having stepped off the boat, Tony felt like a foreigner. He couldn’t decipher any of the many languages being shouted at once. Tony was looking for his cousin yet all the confusion made it difficult to concentrate. He thought that he was actually lucky because he had someone to meet that would help guide him in the beginning. Others he saw had not of clue of where to go or who to speak to. They hastily screamed out searching for others who could speak their language.

"There you are cousin, how was your trip," he heard a voice say from within the crowd. It was Joseph, his cousin.

"Fine, thank you," said Tony.

"C’mon, lets get you something to eat and I can show you around."

The two traveled in a horse and buggy to Carona. Carona was an Italian community. All the immigrants seemed to bunch up into their own area, Tony thought to himself. It must help with the language barrier that exists between many of the different ethnic origins.

Joseph showed Tony around the community. It was a nice place, nothing really spectacular. Joseph and his family had a small apartment in the neighborhood. It had a small extra room in which Tony could stay in.

As Tony settled in and prepared for dinner he thought of what he should do next. Where would he be able to get a job? Joseph had a gotten a job working for the city. It was back breaking, labor intensive work. Tony knew that he was very healthy but he wasn’t particularly strong and couldn’t really picture himself building a road or a bridge. He would have to see about a job in the morning. Right then Joseph’s wife came in and announced that dinner was ready.

Tony awoke with the covers of the bed askew. He had not slept well the night before. The covers were not enough and he had been cold all through the night. He begrudgingly got up and got ready for a day of job hunting. He also took a shower, something that was a new experience because there was a lack of running water and indoor plumbing in Italy.

Joseph had to go to work so Tony went by himself with only a list of names and street addresses. The first place that he came across was at a pharmacy. Yet he didn’t even bother to go in though because he knew nothing about pharmaceuticals.

Tony stayed away from certain areas that his cousin said were infested with shady people. These people were involved in a lot of illegal activities such as raqueteering. Raqueteering was a very profitable business but it gave Italians a bad name and many were persecuted by the Irish and English because of it. The Irish and English were at an advantage over the Italians, because they knew the language they were given better jobs.

Tony walked along the littered streets wondering of what type of job he should get. He also begin to second guess himself. Perhaps he never should have came here in the first place. It seemed to have been a disappointment, that all the claims of how great America was were false. That only certain people were able to get the most sought after jobs, and for a lowly Italian baker the future looked bleak. He and his wife had spent a lot of money just to send him to America. Even the third class ticket they had bought seemed to have cost an entire savings.

Tony also felt bad for leaving his family. He had broke the tradition of his family and it looked as if his trip to America had been a total disaster. He was a failure.

Tony plodded through the city blocks while it began to rain, not caring if he stepped in the rapidly forming puddles. Even though it was pouring, the city didn’t seem to notice and work went on as usual. Tony would’ve went home on a buggy but he had no money. Instead he scurried back to Joseph’s house with his head bare and his clothes soaked. Tony felt kind of shameful that he hadn’t attained a job yet. After all his cousin had done for him he still couldn’t make ends meet.

At dinner that night Joseph tried to explain that it took him a while to find a job also. Tony seemed disillusioned and was quiet all through the meal. He said he wasn’t hungry for desert and went straight to his room.

Tony was contemplating on whether or not to write to his wife, yet he felt so low that he did not want to. He hoped that his luck would hold and that he would eventually find a job.

One day at dinner, Joseph said that someone at work knew of a baker looking for a skilled Italian baker for his pastry shop. It sounded like a great idea because it turned out there was a shortage of skilled bakers and Tony knew that he was certainly able in that field. His family had been doing it for generations.

After several days at the job, Tony felt like writing to his wife and family to tell of his good fortune. His new employer was a fair man and his wife who also worked at the bakery was very warm to his arrival. The job was great, the pay was even better than that of his cousin.

Tony wrote a letter to his wife telling her of the good news and that he would keep in touch often to decide on a suitable time for the rest of the family to come down.

One day after arriving at work, Tony was astonished to find that his boss was in the hospital. His wife told him that he was at home reading when he suddenly keeled over and said that he had a terrible pain in his chest and arms. For now the store had to be closed because of the terrible accident said the boss’s wife.

Tony was out of work once again and didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t sure if he should write to his wife and tell her the bad news. He thought that he should probably wait and hope that things get better before frightening her.

Joseph said that he could do nothing for him right now. He said that if Tony wanted to he could go look for jobs again on his own.

Meanwhile, his boss’ conditions worsened and he finally died on a rainy Thursday afternoon. He offered his condolences to the boss’ wife and then left for his cousins house. On the way back he had mixed feelings. Part of him felt angry and defeated, while he had saved some money it wasn’t a lot. Yet, another part of him felt sad and worried that his boss had passed away and left a widow.

During that weekend, Tony decided that he had two choices. He could cut his losses and head back to Italy, ultimately undermining everything that they had came to America for. Tony decided that the first option wasn’t for him, that he had to find a way to stay in America as well as make it suitable for his family to come down also. Tony decided that he would offer to purchase the shop from the widow. The widow accepted and Tony offered to give her a small percentage of profits as well as a job. This had all turned out positive for Tony in the end. He wrote to his family to tell them of the news. His wife responded that they would come shortly and that was very pleased with what he had done.

His family arrived during the spring and they immediately settled into a new home. Tony thanked his cousin for all the support that they had given him. Sarah became a homemaker for the family and the pastry business was doing excellent.

After several years of success in the pastry business, Tony decided to try making candy. His family had done it in Italy and he wanted to seen how it would be received her in America. He purchased several machines and used them in his basement.

One day while making candy, a salesman for McCroy’s was walking in their neighborhood when he heard the noise that the candy machines were emitting. Not knowing where the noise was coming from, he decided to investigate. When he found Tony and the machines he was awed. What resulted was a deal with the retail chain McCroy’s. It ended up that with a lot of tenacity and hard work, America could be a place where dreams could be attained.