As a youth, I felt unsatisfied with my family’s history.  Many of my friends had parents or grandparents who came from different countries and had such interesting cultural differences.  When people asked me where I was from all I could say was America.  I have no knowledge of my ancestry before my ancestor’s entrance into this country.  I naively believed that this made me less special and that I didn’t have as much of a sense of identity as my peers with such intriguing and unique cultural backgrounds.

My grandfather helped me to see that my family doesn’t need to have close roots to another country to have an interesting history.  After serving in the military, he became a member of the Transit Police Department. He worked in Districts 2, 4, 7, 20 and the Detective Division until he retired with the permanent rank of Lieutenant.  He was also a founding member of the NYC Police Retired Guardians Fraternal Association and served for ten years as the President of the Freeport branch of the NAACP.

I was surprised to find out this information by searching his name online several years ago instead of by him telling me.   I had never considered that someone so close to me was noteworthy enough to have all these achievements written about him online.  The picture of him holding me as a newborn is a constant reminder that I am connected to a rich history full of stories that can be appreciated no matter where they take place.

-Anthony