My grandparents Antonio Grillo and my mother Frances M. Chiofolo. Everyone told me the story of how my family survived the 1917 flu. But many of their neighbors could not survive!
My grandparents came to America in 1912 from Palermo, Sicily. They have not yet learned to speak English. My mother was born shortly after they came to the country.
In the autumn of 1917, they lived on a family farm in East Wyland, New Jersey. The family consisted of my grandparents (Vincenza) and my mother. Mother was six then. He was the eldest of the children. In addition to the mother, there were two or three younger brothers in the family.
This was during the First World War. My mother (Frances) listened to bombs and gunfire. He thought the war in Europe might have been somewhere near New Jersey.
The family farm was at a crossroads. Returning soldiers started returning home that way. Since the house was on the side of the road, the soldiers wanted to drink water. There was a pressure mill on the farm.
I remember playing with the handle of that tube well when I was younger in the 1950s. My grandparents did not understand the soldiers but always allowed them to drink water from tube wells.
In 1918, a few days after some soldiers ran for water, the whole family of grandparents fell ill. Nana Antonio thought the soldiers had made the water worse. Within a few days, the whole family fell ill with high fever, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Mother (Frances) said she, her brothers all and their parents were in bed together. And everyone was so sick that no one was able to see anyone get out of bed.
An American couple lived on the road to their farm. Of course, my grandparents used to call anyone who knew English a Caucasian 'Tuamericant'.
The American man came to search their home. He grabbed several chickens from their chicken coop and killed them to make chicken soup. Then take the spoon in your mouth and feed it to each patient.
This guy helped take my grandparents to the toilet. He cleaned the vomit and excrement inside the house. Changed the dirty sheets on the bed. Cleaned the children's clothes. And all the dirty sheets were left in the pile outside. I'm not sure if these were washed or burned.
Apparently this guy has done it in other homes as well. Because after they recovered, they spoke of the man's kindness. Other neighbors said the Tuareg man had also come to their home. Examined the patients, cleaned their stools, made the bed and provided or gave them chicken soup.
Antonio Grillo's family survived the 1917 flu. But they didn't know the name of the 'American' who showed this kindness. I asked my mother - 'Why didn't they look for the man after they got better?'
My mother told me that the man's house was empty after the flu pandemic. No one knew if the couple had moved elsewhere, or if they had both died. But they never forgot his story of altruism and empathy.
The stories heard from grandparents are very nice, those who have been overwhelmed by the stories from grandparents, they are really very lucky, your story is also very beautiful.