Chrissi Betz
87283 @udel.edu

I can not say that I have any real strong cultural heritage other than American. My Grandfather was born in Italy, and other than that the rest of my grandparents were born in the United States. However, when my family and I go to Brooklyn to visit my Grandfathers side of the family,( which is not very often) I do get a sense of an Italian way of life. When my Grandfather and his family came over from Italy around 1900 they were fortunate enough to purchase a brownstone. Ever since that time the building has remained family owned, with members of the original family still living there 96 years later. My Great Aunt Rose who is 96 has lived there all her life. Her daughter Anna lives in the apartment downstairs with her family. This fact has made me realize that the Italian culture is very family oriented.

The thing that sticks with me the most are the feasts my Aunt Rose used to prepare on Thanksgiving. First we would have appetizers that consisted of extreme amounts of delicious food. Next we would sit around the dinning room table and have a pasta course. After that came the turkey and all the fixings. After turkey we had fruit and nuts, and finally dessert. For dessert there was never any less than five homemade pies. I definately observed that my Grandfather's Italian side of the family had a great love and showed much support for eachother. In spite of the fact that they did not have much money they all banned together to put my Grandfather through medical school. They all have a warm strong sense of love in their eyes and you can tell by spending a day with them how much they all mean to eachother.