Moving To America
Louie grew up working on the family farm but when his oldest brother, Martin, inherited the farm he was left to find his own job. Realizing that Ireland's economy was doing poorly and there were few jobs available in the 1950’s, he made the decision to move to America at 20 years old where his brother’s Frank and Patrick had already immigrated to.
When he left for America, he had little in his suitcase except for a tablecloth that was a gift for his aunt who he was going to live with surrounded by crumpled newspapers to keep the tablecloth from getting wrinkled and some of his clothes. He was not bothered by the lack of clothes but he was embarrassed he did not have anything else special to put in his suitcase. Fortunately for him, his suitcase was lost and did not show up at baggage claim in Boston.
When Louie arrived in Boston, it was nothing like he had expected. He thought that “for all the hype, [he] expected to see a more modern country. The strangest thing [he] saw when [he] came here was there were damn many telephone poles and telephone wires. [He] had the impression that America was a rural, modern country and expected it to be new or futuristic looking. It seemed ancient, it threw [him] back completely”. Though his first time in Boston did not live up to his standards, he did think America seemed more affluent than the Irish communities he had left behind. He wasn’t impressed by its size, but he did like the spirit and character that Boston had.