“MY GRANDFATHER, GIOVANNI RUTIGLIANO”
…………………..The Patriarch of the Rutigliano family, my mother’s father, Giovanni Rutigliano…..He was married to Chiarina Papagni who was at least 10 years younger [if not more], than my grandfather…..Here he sits exactly as I remember him, at one of the dining tables in the basement of his house on 11th Street and Avenue U in Brooklyn. I remember he always smoked these ugly Italian skinny cigars that looked like someone chewed on them!….and he always had a drink by his side. It wasn’t wine, as he preferred Whiskey. This undated photo must have been taken at the end of a Holiday evening since no one else is sitting at the tables, and the family only used the basement for large gatherings….It was a very large basement with a big kitchen….There was also an apartment at the other end…..My grandfather didn’t speak any English, and I spoke no Italian so all I ever said was “hello Grandpa”…He was 80 years old when I was born!….so he was probably born around 1868 if my math is correct…I know very little about the man , or how he made his money, but he was successful enough to buy a three story building in Brooklyn, and provide for his 9 children….I felt badly that I never asked my mom more about her dad, and I never really got to know the man….There was so much prejudice against immigrants…..Germans….Irish….and Italians …..that my parents didn’t want us to speak with any accent so they never taught us Italian. They wanted us to be Americans. Since my parents came to America when they were very young they learned English in school, and didn’t have any accent. My oldest brother Mauro learned Italian from just being around my father’s dad, who my brother was named for. We lived across the hall from my grandparents in a two bedroom apartment. We moved to Long Island when I was three so I was really never exposed to the language the way my brother was…..My parents later regretted not teaching us. I regretted it too. It would have helped me in my business, and on all the trips I made to Italy over the years….It’s so different today, and children learn second and sometimes third languages from their parents……My grandfather lived a long life, and died in his sleep in his home…..He was in his late 90s. I just wish I knew the man better.
