A Description of My Grandfather as a Man of Great Ambition and Desire
My grandfather was a man of great ambition and desire. He knew that to gain the opportunities needed for his family he had to move to Canada. In 1955 on a ship packed with eager Italian immigrants just like him, he was finally making the voyage that he had always dreamed. During the grueling ship ride, he found something he didn’t see much of growing up poor in the small town of Segusta, Sicily. What he found was a brand new 1955 fifty lire coin. Figuring someone must have dropped it, he put the coin in his pocket and kept it. On one side of the coin, the words “REPUBBLICA ITALIANA” are Inscribed on the edge. The face of a man who looks like Caesar is in the center. On the other side, a well-sculpted man who resembles Michelangelo‘s Dawd appears to be using a hammer and rock as tools to write something down.
The number “1955” is inscribed on the upper-left of the coin indicating the year, and “L. 50” is inscribed on the centre-right indicating the face value. Just looking at the coin brings out feelings of boldness and hope. I don’t know if fifty lire was much in that period in time, but it didn’t matter. The coin symbolized the last memory of a nation that had shaped who he was as a person. It symbolized the dream of providing for his family that he had always prospered for. All those feeling represented in a small piece of metal. I remember the day he decided to give me the coin. He approached me With his distinctive limp, cane in hand, and said dryly, “Don’t lose this”. in his memorable Italian accent. He put it in my hand and I put it rn my back pocket. I was very touched, not only because of all the history behind this priceless artifact but because he chose me, instead of my father.
He gave it to me because he knew he didn’t need it anymore. He had accomplished all that he had wanted to in life. My grandfather worked in a factory for over forty years Still he felt he was the luckiest man in the world. He gave me the precious heirloom less than a year before his death, and every time I look at the coin it brings back great memories. We would always play cards and I would always wrn. I don‘t remember the game we would play or whether or not he let me win but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was the time we spent together, and because of the coin, lwiII always remember.
