A006  A Family�fs Beginning

     This is the story of how my family came from the country of Portugal in Europe to the United States of America in the early 19 hundreds.  The people in Portugal were very poor, and they had chance ah had a chance to come to the United States and so this young man came over and at the same time a young woman came over. They didn't know each other. They met in New York on Ellis Island when they were going to immigration.  And they realized they were going to the same area in the United States. They were going to Massachusetts. They both had relatives in Taunton, Massachusetts. 
     And when they got there, they saw each other, and became friends. And then boyfriend, and girl friend. And then they got married. Now, they both came over with their own families, sisters and brothers. My grand-father came here to the United States while two of his brothers went to Canada and two other brothers went to Brazil.  My grand-mother's sisters three of them went to Canada and four of them came here. Yes, she had a large family I believe thirteen brothers and sisters.
     Well as my grand-mother and grand-father got more and more friendly and they decided to get married they did. And then, my mother was the first child that was born. Now remember they came from Portugal, and they weren�ft very educated and they didn't speak any English.
     So, ah my mother was born, she only learned Portuguese. And they only spoke Portuguese because my grand-parents lived with other Portuguese people. There was the Portuguese community in Taunton.      
     And so the Portuguese people stayed together and really didn�ft speak much English.  Now my grand-father needed English for his work. So he learned a little bit. But my grand-mother just stayed home, she did the cooking and the cleaning and the washing.  And my grand -father went out to make some money.
     The money wasn�ft a lot, they were very poor. And so my mother would go with him. And so she would learn a little English but not enough. Because most of the people he worked with were Portuguese people. My mother getting to go to school until she was about seven or eight years old.  During the time though, my grand-parents had a son, and two other daughters. Well and my mother first went to school. She went to kindergarten even though she was eight or nine years old because she couldn�ft speak any English. And it at that time in the kindergarten they would serve milk and cookies. And so my mother enjoyed the milk and cookies and she felt a little relaxed and so she wanted to go every-day. When my grand-mother realized that my mother was getting milk and cookies. She says, �gYou don�ft want to learn English? You just want to eat cookies.�h  But my mother tried.
     Now my grand-father had to move.  So they moved many many times.  Wherever a job was, he they went there.  They even went to New York and ran a hotel for a little while.  Now because they didn�ft have a lot of money, they couldn�ft buy a lot of clothes.  But I think each daughter had maybe two dresses and the boy had a suit. My grand-father was a very good tailor.  And he made them winter snow suits because on the east coast in the winter it�fs very cold.  And my mother still remembers getting all dressed up her snow suit and going outside to play.  Well my time went by and my mother grew up, and she and her sisters one day were going to a dance.  Probably a Portuguese dance, and my father who was ah my father at that time but he, this young man came walking by and say �gHello girls, can I walk with you?�h And they said, �gNo thank you, No, no.�h  But my mother said, �gOh, he�fs handsome.�h  Well he met them again and little by little, my mother and my father became friends, and then they got married.  And they had me, and they also had a young girl, my sister.  Ok. So we I was born in Massachusetts but my sister was born in California.  We moved out here to be with more Portuguese people in 1944 when I was four years old.  And always growing up I always with the Portuguese people and my mother and father always said, �gIf you get married,�h oh no they said, �gwhen you get married, you will marry a Portuguese girl.�h  And I said, �gOk, ok.�h  Heh- heh.  But I didn�ft get married.