This is the page where I will post and link a few stories and articles that I have written:
Cabrini Shrine Program Reflection
My parents were born in Italy, my mother in Puglia in the town of Alberobello and my dad literally down the hill from her in the farming village of Corregio. They were fated to meet in the United States. Dad arrived as a teen. The family farm could no longer support the large Grassi family. So, he and two brothers landed in New York, leaving the farm to the youngest brother. They found work in the coal mines of Pennsylvania. But when a chunk of anthracite fell on dad’s face and knocked out some teeth, they decided they wanted to remain safely above ground. Dad spent the rest of his life sporting gold front teeth (predating the look that many “rappers” sport today). He often reminded me to make sure they were still in his mouth when we buried him. They migrated to Southern Illinois working road construction and saving money to open a business somewhere. With very little education and their saved cash, they met two men who wanted to sell their successful grocery store in Chicago. My dad and one uncle took the chance thinking that the sellers were dumb but successful. He felt that he and his brother being smart would do even better. So, they moved to Chicago and did quite well. A few years later Dad decided to go back to his home town to find a wife and bring her back. He stopped in Endicott New York where many families from his area in Italy had settled.
That’s where mom came in. She was living there since she was 12 with her father, doing piece work in the Endicott/Johnson shoe factory and keeping house for him until he saved enough money to bring my grandmother and my mom’s brother and sister to the States. Having lost all his savings in the depression, grandpa had to start over. He did and eventually Nona and my aunt and uncle arrived. Mom, by this time in her late twenties, met Dad during his stopover. He thought she was not interested in him. She was but didn’t want to act like the other girls whose fathers were throwing them at this successful grocer. But it was meant to be. They connected and he asker her to marry him. There was one catch. She’d have to wait until he came back from his vacation in Italy. She did. The priest allowed it because three months had passed since they met, but they only had been in each other’s company for two weeks. After the wedding she came home to Chicago with him.
Their five children were born at Columbus Hospital. The legendary Dr. Silvio DelChicca delivered us all. The oldest, Annamaria, died of polio in 1946 at the age of 7. I was born 10 months later, the same year Grassi Brother Super Foods opened at Clark and Grace, the fourth largest store on the north side and one of the first self-service supermarkets in the city. It was a tough pregnancy for my mother so soon after losing her only daughter. Dr. DelChicca told her that while he was not able to save her daughter, he would make sure the baby would survive. I did. He would always tell me that I was a miracle and that God’s plan for me was to be a priest. I guess he was right. After I was ordained, he insisted that I come to my doctor appointments at his office on Oakley wearing my Roman Collar. We would discuss theology as he checked me over. I was privileged to anoint him before he died and to celebrate and preach his funeral Mass at the chapel of Columbus Hospital which is now the beautiful National Shrine of Mother Cabrini. When you look up at the mural on its ceiling, the immigrant with the bushy mustache carrying a bag you see, that’s Dr. DelChicca. He was the model. Now it is a joy for me to celebrate Mass there regularly since I retired. I thank God for Mother Cabrini bringing Dr. DelChicca to Chicago and helping my immigrant family and so many others over the decades.
Rev. Dominic Grassi