Pictured above: Sarah Riccardo and son, Frank. 1937
Standing on the Shores of Something New
A reflection for Immigration Awareness Month (June 2022).
In 1927, my great-grandmother set foot on American soil for the very first time. She had left formal schooling at the age of eight to work in a sewing factory in Italy to help her family save enough money to pay for their trip across the Atlantic.
Thousands of miles from home, in a country where she could not speak the language, she felt welcomed immediately. The neighbors trickled through the door of their new flat offering food, fabric, pots, pans, wine, and anything else a family who arrived with only the clothing on their back would need.
My Nona’s story has always made me think of Hebrews 13:2 “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” The kindness she was shown made the difference between knowing that she belonged or feeling like an outsider in a strange new world.
As we begin Immigration Awareness Month, it may seem like this issue does not touch our daily lives as we live in a state so far away from where many of the migration conflicts take place, and although most of us have never immigrated, each of us has been like an immigrant at one point or another. We have all been my Nona, standing on the shores of something new and feeling a bit out of place.
I urge you to look around your classrooms, workplaces, and communities to find the stories of the brave families and individuals who took a leap of faith into the melting pot in search of a better life. I also hope that you take time out of your busy days to show hospitality to any metaphorical immigrants you come across.
Leanna Dorsey
Executive Assistant to the Senior Vice President, Advancement Office Coordinator