My family, Sacco & Vanzetti: 80 years ago today
At my grandmothers wake thirteen years ago, I chatted with 87 year-old great uncle Gaetano, imploring him to share childhood stories of his sister that I might include in the next day's eulogy at St. Margaret's Church.
"Uncle Guy" recounted life in Milford, Massachusetts during the fist decades of the 20th century, describing the intimate Italian immigrant community of which his family was part. After a few vignettes about trips to the beach and his father's battle with silicosis from carving tombstones, he said, "my father hung around with the Socialists back then. You know Sacco and Vanzetti? Sacco got married in our house. One time my mother hid Sacco's wife when the police arrested him and were looking for her."
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