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Where It All Began
Sometimes things happen when you're young that return years later showing you God's plan for your life.Κ Perhaps, it has been that way with you.Κ Have you had someone in your life that has had an impact on you?Κ Maybe it was your grandmother.Κ Maybe it was a friend.Κ In my life, there was a special someone who sang Christian songs to me, told me funny stories, and read Bible stories to me that I never forget.Κ She is the reason I am here today.
It All Began With Grandma
In the year 1920, a lovely 19 year old bride came to America with her husband.Κ Her name was Maria Giuseppina Di Palma.Κ She had been married in Rome to a young, dapper, well-dressed gentleman.Κ The long boat trip from Italy to Ellis Island in New York was typical of most boat trips in those days. Many times it would take two weeks to get to America.Κ Ships were usually crowded, some travelers didn't even have a cabin and stayed on deck the whole trip.Κ And, the boats were nothing like the Queen Mary or the Normandy.Κ On top of it all, she was pregnant and was sick the whole trip.
My grandparents settled in Brooklyn, New York.Κ My grandmother had three children, but as her life progressed, her life became very difficult.Κ When the children grew up and were nearly in high school, she was facing a troubled marriage.Κ She would often take a walk for several blocks just to get away >from the house and think about her life. One day, while she was walking, she arrived at Fulton Street which happened to be the elevated structure of the BMT lines of the New York City Transit System. Underneath this dark structure were some run-down storefronts (around 1936). She heard some singing and preaching coming from a storefront church on Fulton Street. On the spur of the moment, she decided to go inside and see what it was all about.
She found the joy and peace that she had been seeking for a long time.Κ After my grandma began going to this church, instead of being sad and depressed as she had been, she was walking around the house singing and praising God and doing her chores.Κ She was an entirely different person than when she was suffering loneliness and despair.Κ My mother, Mary, who was a teenager at the time, and Mary's brother and sister all noticed the drastic change in grandma's demeanor and in every aspect of her life.Κ She was also a very inventive lady. Her children didn't like doing dishes, but grandma had a way of getting them into the kitchen.Κ She would start singing, "She'll Be Coming Around The Mountain", and before you knew it, the children would be helping her dry the dishes and singing too!Κ
After I was born, my grandmother raised my sister and me because my mother had to work. Grandma would sing to us and tell us stories about Jesus. She also talked so much about Italy and made us all laugh with her funny story about her donkey.Κ She was coming home from work at the chestnut groves in Barile and her donkey, who was probably tired, decided to sit down on the road.Κ He wouldn't move off the road so people could pass by.Κ People began shouting and yelling, "Get that donkey off the road!"Κ So, Giuseppina started to shout, but he didn't listen. She got an idea. She simply lit a fire under his tail, and he got up quick!
It took more than 30 years till my mother, Mary, listened to grandma and became a Christian.Κ Then, I also found Jesus through my mother's witness and my father later asked the Lord into his life.Κ My sister was next.
I never forgot those stories grandma told me.Κ And I would always tell people, "When I get to be 70, I'll be a Christian just like grandma!"Κ I never realized that you don't wait until you're older to come to God.Κ In fact, I found Christ in 1966 at the age of 20. My grandmother was a wonderful example of persistance and long-suffering.Κ She was ridiculed for her faith, she was rejected by many, but one day even those who did these things to her came to know Jesus also.
Because of my grandmother's prayers, I am here today.Κ Being named after my grandma (my middle name is Josephine), means a lot.Κ Grandma lived to the age of 98.Κ She is now with my mother, Mary, who went home to be with the Lord thirteen years before grandma.
Click Here For A Picture of Grandma and Me.Back
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