May 17th, 1928

Dear Maria,

            We are sorry we had to leave during the night, we just couldn’t let them take us too. We couldn’t risk putting all of us in danger. Do you remember Tony, our late husbands’ good friend? He was able to book us a train all the way to Bordeaux in France. We didn’t even need to pay anything for the tickets because of his kindness. It was a very long ride, we were told it was about 1,000 miles, but we were so grateful to get away. It took about one day, we slept most of the time because we were up packing all night. We had to wait in a hostel for a night until we could get on a boat to the United States. The boat ride was much more uncomfortable then the train, it was about 4,000 miles to even reach the coast. It took about 6 days because there were some bad storms. We brought a lot of money with us from our husbands, but the boat trip was still expensive. Don’t worry about our money situation though, we have enough from recent events. We know that you are missing your sons, as are we. But you should also know we are starting a new life in New York City. It has been a struggle to find some place to live, there are so many people in one area. Right now, we are looking for jobs during the day and sleeping in people’s homes at night. Even though the city is very big and scary, a lot of nice people have taken us in to their homes. We are nervous for our futures, jobs, and our families back home, including you. But we also know this was the best thing, we couldn’t have survived where we were. We miss you terribly, along with our husbands. Please stay safe, talk soon.

                                                Love,

                                                Carmela, Gabriella, Milania