My Italian heritage is so much more than just an indicator as to where my ancestors originated from. To me, my heritage means family - most importantly, my grandmother. She was one of the greatest people I have ever known and the traditional Italian lifestyle means so much more to me because of her. Growing up in a large Italian family has endowed me with values and bonds that I will cherish forever.
Having five sets of aunts and uncles and twelve cousins I’ve always had a shoulder to turn to. My grandma was a traditional Italian woman; she was the matriarch of our family. She instilled such values of togetherness and love in our family. Her Sunday dinners consisting of pasta and meat sauce were always open to the entire family and she passed along Italian traditions such as the Festa Dei Sette Pesci, which my aunt still prepares every Christmas Eve. She was the one who always made sure everyone spent time together and of course had a full stomach. Being Italian has meant so much to me and my family considering how close it has made us all.
I’ll never forget the day when my grandmother passed away. I felt a piece of my heart break because I knew she was gone from my life forever. After saying our goodbyes my entire family traveled down the sterile white hospital hallway to the elevator. It was a typical cramped elevator, but my whole family managed to squeeze into it. I thought the elevator ride to the main floor would be somber and depressing, but the second my family began to huddle together and joke around I felt my grandmother’s presence among us and I knew she would never really be gone.
When my grandma died her Italian values and traditions didn’t die with her. My family kept them alive, my family kept her alive. I see my grandma in every Festa Dei Sette Pesci, every laugh shared with my family, every Italian Christmas cookie, and every Italian curse word. My grandmother passed down her Italian heritage not only genetically to my family, but she passed along the most important part of being Italian; the love and sense of family. My Italian heritage means the world to me because it brings me closer to my grandma and my family every single day, and there is not a day that I do not wish my grandmother was still physically here with me, but for now what she left behind will be enough.
