Concetta was born on October 6th, 1937 the eldest of five siblings raised on a farm in the village of Contursi Terme within the province of Salerno in the Campania region of Italy.  At the time it was one of the poorest regions in all of Europe.  It was a place where working on the farm to help feed the family was essential for survival, and a place where education was a rare luxury.   

At 22 years old, with only a second-grade education, a newborn at home and in her 9th month of pregnancy mom learned of a temporary pathway to achieve U.S. citizenship.  It was a rare and unusual invitation from the U.S. government that would only last till her 23rd birthday.   It was her chance to grasp for a dream.  The promise of a better life, in a place where education and opportunities abound.  But to unlock this future the invitation required she depart  Italy for America immediately and she would have to leave her newborn and husband behind.

Less than a month before her 23rd birthday, with a baby due any day, Mom and her brother Felice headed to the Port of Naples. Neither spoke a word of English when they boarded Saturnia for the transatlantic journey.  Mom was seasick every single day of the 11 day journey.   Just two weeks before her path to the U.S. would expire forever, on September 14, 1960 Mom arrived and she was now on U.S. soil as one of the nation’s newest  citizens.  

Her second son Giacomo was born days after she disembarked and it was a year before her husband and first son Mauro were allowed to join her.  Mom worked at the Ronzoni factory in Brooklyn, taught herself how to read and write in English and she and my dad had three more boys: Carmine, Danielle and Raimondo.  They eventually moved out of NYC to Long Island where they bought a house, and they always kept a garden with chickens and rabbits, it remained part of a deep bond to their Italian roots and family.