My grandfather lived with my family from 1960 till he died in 1977. He was a peasant who worked as a goat herder near Armento Italy until he came to New York city in 1912 at the age of 16. Armento is one of the poorest areas of Italy and lies about 50 miles from the sea in the instep of the boot of Italy.

He told me that when the grapes were harvested, the large landowner, who he served, would take them off their regular duties and use them in the harvest. His job was to stomp the grapes in a large tub with another boy. He told me that when nobody was looking he would piss in the stomped grapes.

I asked him one time what was the first thing he did when they released him from Ellis Island. He told me he looked in the gutters because he had heard they were lined with gold.

He already had a lot of family in New York when he got to America and he was traveling with his unmarried aunt. Because she was a single woman they were detained for a week because she was suspected of being a prostitute.

He was drafted in 1918 but the War ended before he could be shipped overseas. He was afraid that they were going to ship him to the Italian theatre so he pretended he couldn't understand English. He was always afraid he was going to be shipped back to the old country. I think he believed that the old country hadn't treated him well.