Carmela Rizzuti Cupo, a 30-year resident of Briarcliff Manor, is an inspiration. Although a broken leg at age 83 required two surgeries and physical therapy, she dances again and participates in chair yoga. Her personal strength, resilience, and determination are the direct result of a humble beginning in the town of Carolei, Province of Cosenza, Calabria, Italy.
From age seven months to seven years, maternal grandparents raised Carmela on their farm after the Italian Army called her father to serve during World War II. She recalls, “The farmhouse had no electricity, and I went to the bathroom in the basement or outside surrounded by animals. We fattened up pigs and then slaughtered them for food. And the chickens provided eggs for the family to eat.” She baked bread with her grandmother in an outdoor wooden oven, and her aunt made clothes for her that she proudly wore.
When the family moved from the farm to the center of town, the amenities remained sparse. “We had a toilet, but it was a piece of wood placed over a large hole in the ground, and there was no sink. We had a large vat in the kitchen that served as a bathtub we filled with water heated over an open fire. Two cousins cooked for the entire family on a fireplace 100 yards from where we slept.”
In 1954 at age 14, Carmela embarked on a journey to attain the American Dream. She and her mother left her siblings (two brothers and one sister) in Italy and boarded the ship, The Constitution. “I shared a room with my mother on the ship, and the conditions were good,” says Carmela. The ship sailed for eight days across the Atlantic Ocean before docking in New York City where her father waited. “After arriving in New York City, we spent a few hours at a processing facility on the 42nd Street pier. We had to present papers. My father met us there and helped with the process.”
The family first resided on 144th Street between Willis and Third Avenues in the Bronx. In 1955, after Carmela’s parents saved enough money, they brought their three children who remained in Italy to America. In 1956, they welcomed a new addition to the family, a daughter born in the United States, and the family moved to the Fordham section of the Bronx on 187th Street (Little Italy).
Carmela says one of her biggest challenges in America was learning the English language. “In Italy, the only language spoken at home and in the small school I attended was the dialect of the town, which was not the basic Italian language.” With determination, she became fluent in English. In 1957 she married Carlo Cupo at Mount Carmel Church on 187th Street in the Bronx. They had four children, eight grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. On Oct. 23, 1991, she became a United States citizen. “I was proud to become a citizen because I love this country very much. I have no desire to go back to Italy to live, but I’ve gone back there many times through the years to vacation and visit relatives.”
Carmela is thankful for the opportunity to start a new, “more fulfilled life in America. I feel blessed to have a large, loving family. La Familia (the family) is the most important part of life.”
Old Traditions, New Beginnings is a compilation of stories 250-1000 words per submission from those 60 years and older. Those interested in contributing their own writing or volunteering to help others share their contributions are encouraged to email district95@nyassembly.gov
