Mama’s Scapegoat

Grandpa came from Italy to America in 1905 and became a citizen in 1910, marrying his Italian immigrant bride in 1915 in New York. For over twenty years, they ran a tobacco and candy store before they moved their family to California, leaving behind their less adventurous relatives. That’s where my mother met my father – she was a waitress and he was a patron – and Aunty met Clarence. My parents married quickly and I was their first child, just another baby born to an immigrant family in the City of Angels. Aunty and Clarence became engaged a few years later, but ultimately cancelled the wedding: Neither ever married after. It’s nice to imagine a heart wrenching, Shakespearian devotion to each other, even apart, but the real reasons may forever be a mystery. The proof of their once love – an elegant cedar chest – has stayed with me for generations.