All of my cousins and I are in the same age range, older but not entirely ancient. During this enforced stay at home period, we have been sorting and sharing. Among the many treasures have been family pictures.
This is a picture of my grandpa’s barbershop in Rochester, NY. He was born in 1884 in San Cataldo, Sicily while Victor Emmanuel III was the King of Italy, and grandpa immigrated to the United States in 1909 on the vessel, Regina D Italia. At that time the Declaration of Intention to immigrate required that he declare “I am not an anarchist; I am not a polygamist nor a believer in the practice of polygamy, and it is my intention in good faith to become a citizen of the United States of American.” He became a citizen in 1921.
He worked as a barber his entire life and owned the barbershop, the Sanitary Barbershop above. If you notice he is cutting hair and babysitting one of his children while he barbered. He and my grandmother raised nine children to adulthood, and he was married for nearly 50 years to my grandmother until he died.
What a special man he was!
Life Gets Better 