The great financial capital, New York City, a city where dreams come true, a city that exists beyond the wildest dreams of many. The praises are never-ending for the big apple. Tens and hundreds of songs written about the personality, the greatness and the aspirations surrounding New York, and why wouldn’t there be, it is indeed the best amongst the best. It is this alluring beauty of America that has attracted millions of immigrants throughout the world. This nation of immigrants has attracted people from all over the globe, whether near or far across the Atlantic, to come and build a life of glory. Every immigrant, every individual that has arrived here has their own little story, whether it’s leaving behind their aching family for a better future, or the sorrows and worries of their nations to rebuild their lives and create a foundation for the future generations. They all had a story that they left behind in order to create a new story in the aspiring flamboyant part of the world, that is America.
Just like any of these immigrants Cassie Lagana’s family also has their own little story. Cassie is a second generation American. Her mother Rosa was born in New York, whereas her father, Anthony, moved to America at the age of 7. Both Cassie’s mother and father are from San Fili Italy and had arrived in America for very different reasons. Her mothers side of the family had moved here for a better life. They believed America would provide them with better opportunities and better jobs. Cassie’s father’s side of the family moved primarily because they had many close-knit relatives that lived in America and hence they followed along the same road and decided to move to America.
Within all its majesty and greatness America does consist a lot of let downs. Many tend to believe that it would be a walk in the park to make it big in America. Not everyone takes in count the hardships and dedication required to go up the ladder in this nation. And like many, Cassie’s Grandma had moved to America with great expectations. She planned on hitting the ground running and living the dream, of comfort and luxury. But reality hit when they first arrived in America. All the glorious dreams of living in a big house and living amidst luxury went a drain, as they had to “settle down and live in a basement the size of a closet.”
Though this was a major let down Cassie’s family always viewed America with great appreciation and sought numerous opportunities in it.
The question of regretting the move never came to their minds. Life for Mr.Anthony (father) and his mother wasn’t the most pleasant back in Italy. Even though her grandma doesn’t really speak of life back in Italy, Cassie had learned and acquired information from close relatives and friends. She recalls:
“My dad doesn’t really remember much about it. But his parents had a difficult time there. My grandmother was an orphan and grew up in a convent raised by nuns. She had absolutely no family except for her brother, who she was separated from.”
Thus, seemingly life back in Italy is not much to compare back to. But just because life was tough in Italy didn’t mean it made the process of settling in America any easier. Her father nor her grandparents spoke any English at all and they basically had to teach themselves to adjust and relate to the new life in America. Imaginably it was pretty hard for the family to settle at first. But it has been a while since Cassie’s family had moved to America and the sorrows and hardships of yesterday don’t seem so bad today.
As Cassie and her family have been living in America for a while now, they have well accustomed to the American life and tradition. But during Christmas time, it’s the great Cassie family tradition, as I put it, to make their very own top secret ravioli.
“Our biggest traditions is that we make ravioli at Christmastime. It’s a recipe my grandma learned growing up in the convent. We have all the ingredients, everyone has their one job, and then we put it together and get it done in one day. It’s delicious, no joke.”
Living in a close-knit community with a big part of their family living in America, Cassie most definitely feels at home here in the big apple.
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