My great-great grandfather Cappellari immigrated to the United States from Italy. We don’t know too much about him, but a story does circulate in my family about his journey here. According to this story, he and his dog boarded a ship and set off on their merry way across the Atlantic. Everything was going according to plan until his ship was attacked by a hoard of bloodthirsty pirates who killed every last living soul except for my ancestor (and his dog). While some might say that it was his dashing Italian good looks that saved him, it was actually his ability to make barrels which for some undisclosed reason the pirates were in need of. Anyhow, though alive, Cappellari was not particularly happy with his new profession. Accordingly, he and his dog jumped ship when the coast of North America appeared, swimming to shore with the sure strokes of freedom. They holed up in a cave for a while and even though both were quite hungry, they managed not to eat each other. After that, I have no idea what happened to great-great granddad, but I hope that at least some of this story is true!
-C.C.
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