Resilience in the Wake of Tragedy

I was teaching in Tator Hall at Quinnipiac University when it started.  I had an 8:00am class.  Alyssa and I were living in the apartment in the Commons, a residence hall on campus.  We were just married that summer.  I was a residence hall director and teaching part time at the university.  I came in the door around 9:00am to the Today Show on the television.  It was unfolding in front of the whole world - in real time.  The “Twin Towers” that had been such a pervasive force in New York were burning. Smoke was trailing into the sky.  Those of us who were alive then remember the image.  It has been seared into our consciousness.  I can not remember another time in my life when we were all focused and united in one cause, through one experience - until now.

When I think about it, or try to teach this moment to my students, the images from that day all hit me at once.  It’s tough to navigate the emotions and teach kids about how world-changing that moment was in our lives.  The world was different in the wake of the event.  I could no longer bring a friend to the terminal when they were flying a plane somewhere.  I could not wait on the curbside at Fenway for the gates to open.  There were security checkpoints, metal detectors, and an awareness that was not there before.

There were so many people who risked or lost their lives as a result of that day.  They are enshrined on memorials and in homes around the nation. I took my high school students to the 9/11 Museum in New York City a couple of years ago and there is a room dedicated to those men and women.  Additionally, there is a room where you can experience every moment of that morning.  When I walked through that exhibit, the emotions hit me hard.  I was back in the Commons with my wife watching it unfold.  The office of Residential Life was moved to the Commons due to construction.  Carol Boucher, our director, came into our apartment to watch on the television.  While she was there, the little TV we had in the bedroom was on CNN and they reported that the Pentagon had been hit.  We were under attack.

Those people who risked or lost their lives for others are another example in history where ordinary people do extraordinary things.  It is important that we remember the efforts of the people on United Flight 93, at the Pentagon, and in New York City.  Below is an article from Business Insider that tell stories of heroism on that day.  It is a great reminder how we all came together.  Whether it was a former Marine donning his uniform again and helping with the efforts, a group of people overtaking a plane from the terrorists, or a former Vietnam soldier escorting panic stricken people from the building ordinary people made a difference and inspired us all in the wake of one of the worst days in United States history.

We are in the midst of another kind of heroism today.  Whether you are a nurse, doctor, fire fighter, police officer, first responder, grocery clerk, mail person, news person, or many others, you are on the front line.  I am thankful for your service.  But let’s go even further than that.  Teachers (full disclosure - a group I belong to) are recreating how we teach.  Business people are working from homes to keep the economy moving.  My wife is running a non-profit human service  agency from her home office.  She is on Zoom calls all day.  She is getting calls at 11:00pm about issues that need her attention.  We are all working together to get through this.  

This is different than that horrific day on September 11, 2001.  Let’s not say that they are the same.  However, there are some similarities.  First, we are all experiencing this together, in real time.  Not only in the United States, but throughout the world.  Second, there are heroes who are keeping us moving - together in this crisis.  Watching selfless acts around the world on a daily basis, no matter their circumstances, says so much about humanity and who we are as a society.  Third, this is a period of uncertainty.  We will be different when we come out the other side.  I think, like 9/11, we will be stronger.  Steadfast in our willingness to get society moving again and earnest in our endeavor to make this a better world for our children and grandchildren.

https://www.businessinsider.com/7-incredible-stories-of-heroism-on-911-2015-9

A Nation of Immigrants

In an effort to highlight ordinary people doing extraordinary things today I’d like to share a little bit about my own history.  I am the grandson and great-grandson of Italian and Portuguese immigrants.  

On the Italian side my great-grandfather Filippo Antonio Goduti came into this country in the 1890s.  He was born in Montefalcone, Italy and settled in the North End of Boston.  If you have ever been to the Paul Revere house you have been to what was once his store, which was a cigar shop.  Attached is a picture of it in the early 1900s.  Filippo married Maria Fazioli and had a son Renato, who is my grandfather.   Renato married my grandmother, Anna Ursini, who was born in Casulduni, Italy.  She came to this country in 1910.  Renato and Anna’s son is my father Philip A. Goduti, Sr.  I am named after both my father and my great-grandfather.

Dominic and Maria (Simoes) Reis came through Ellis Island into the country in the 1920s.  My cousin Joe had their names etched on a plaque that is on Ellis Island.  I attached a picture of their names from that plaque that has so many immigrants.  They were from Aveiro, Portugal.  My grandmother, Rose was the first to be born in the United States on the Reis side of the family.  Rose married my grandfather, John Mendes, who was born in Fall River, MA.  He left this country when he was 1 year old to return to Mongual Beira Alta, Portugal, where he grew up.  He used to tell me that he was sheep herder.  He came to this country in 1945, arriving in Philadelphia.  John and Rose's daughter is my mother Rose Mendes.

I wanted to tell this story, because we are a nation of immigrants.  Those ordinary people, who came to this nation with very little, have done a lot to help create and support the society that we live in.  They fought in wars, started businesses, and have served in our government.  Their children and grandchildren have continued to do that.  My grandfather, Renato, fought in WWI.  Both my father and my Uncle John Mendes served in the army. 

My ancestors were part of a wave of immigrants from Europe that came to this country in the late 19th and early 20th century who played a significant role in building this nation in the 20th century.  Of course, they were not the only immigrants to change this nation.  This distinction extends to the Irish and German immigrants before the Civil War, which was a part of the first major wave of immigration.  It also extends to the slaves from Africa who were forced into labor in 1619 who did more than most immigrants to build our economy and literally our nation’s capitol.  Edward Baptist writes about this in a book titled The Half Has Never Been Told.  Another great resource about this extraordinary story is the New York Times podcast titled 1619.

I leave you with this - John F. Kennedy, the only Catholic President of the United Sates, came from that first wave of immigration prior to the Civil War.  He wrote in his book, A Nation of Immigrants that “There were major forces that triggered this massive immigration.  Every immigrant served to reinforce and strengthen those elements of American society that attracted him in the first place."  By the way, Kennedy's mother, Rose Fitzgerald, lived four doors down from my great-grandfather's cigar shop around the same time.  She was baptized in the Catholic Church in that neighborhood.  Her father John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald was the mayor of Boston at the time.

Take a moment and post your story on the Facebook thread that I started.  The people who came before us were ordinary people who came here with almost nothing, yet they made a life.  The institutions, buildings, and society that we take for granted were because they had the strength, ingenuity, and determination to create a world where their children and grandchildren, and great-grand children can benefit from their sacrifice.  

In the middle of this crisis remember that we are all a product of their struggle.  Like them, we will persevere.  

I look forward to hearing about your stories.