Those Who Came Before Me Madison Firios Professor Gomrad.

Those Who Came Before Me

Madison Firios

Professor Gomrad

Theodore Firios• My paternal grandfather who we call

Pappou.

• He emigrated from Andros Island, Greece in the 1900’s.

• He got a job as a chef on a cargo ship and when it landed in New York, he decided to stay in America.

• He married Helen Kourkoumelis in New York.

• The government eventually caught on to his illegal immigration and deported him to Haiti for several months.

• Once he moved here, he opened up a Greek restaurant

• The stress of owning a restaurant and supporting a large family became too much for him.

• He began drinking heavily and abusing his wife and children

• This led to his divorce with Helen.

• Due to his excessive drinking, his health diminished rapidly and he died at the age of 60.

Theodore Firios• On the top is a map of Greece

and the arrow is pointing to where the Firios family came from; Andros Island.

• On the bottom is a picture of his gravestone. It shows his death on February 7, 1995 which was seven months before I was born.

Helen Kourkoumelis• My paternal grandmother who we call Yia-yia.

• She was a first generation American, as her parents emigrated from Greece.

• When she was 6 months old, her mother was institutionalized because of a misdiagnosis of postpartum depression.

• Helen visited her mother many times, but her mom started to forget who my Yia-yia was and eventually died in the mental hospital.

• Her father had to raise all 5 kids on his own.

• Less than a year later, at the age of 48, he died from a heart attack.

• Helen and her siblings were sent to live with their aunt and uncle in Far Rockaway, New York.

• My Pappou’s parents and my Yia-yia’s aunt and uncle wanted both of my grandparents to marry within the Greek culture, so they had their marriage arranged.

• My Yia-yia never really wanted to marry him or have seven children, but as a woman she did not have much of a choice, so she complied.

• Years later, they divorced because she could not handle his alcoholism and the abuse that ensued.

• After years of moving and opening new restaurants during her time married to Theodore, she finally ended up in Orlando, Florida.

Helen Kourkoumelis

• In the top right, is a picture of the ship Helen’s father emigrated from Greece on.

• To the lower right, is the passenger list with his name, Milton Kourkoumelis, on line 28.

Helen Kourkoumelis• Here is one of the only photos

of Theodore and Helen. This one was taken when they first got married.

• It is obvious that they both have Greek features and only by talking to them would you be able to tell that, being a first generation American, Helen is already more American than Theodore.

Lila Cason• My maternal grandmother, Lila Cason, was born May 16, 1954.

• She had six siblings, her mother, Blandis Monday, and her father, Kermit Dean.

• Kermit was in the military and was never home. He was not even there when my grandmother was born.

• Her mom was not involved in her life either, so she and her siblings raised themselves for the most part. She was verbally and sometimes physically abused.

• Lila had to drop out of school at age fifteen so that she could work to help support her family.

Lila Cason• To the right is a newspaper clipping of Lila as a baby and her mom. They

would take pictures of mothers and their new babies to send to the fathers overseas.

• Below is the Marriage Register of Lila’s mother, Blandis, and her father, Kermit. It took a while to find this register and before we did, many believed they were never even married because her mom was always with a different man. (They are on line 1108)

Lila Cason• She married Larry Vance in 1971 and on their honeymoon, they decided at eighteen to

move to Florida.

• Generations before them all stayed in West Virginia, but Lila and Larry knew they needed, what they thought was, a better life.

• Nine months later, they gave birth to twin girls, my mom and aunt.

• She raised both of them alone, because similar to my paternal side, Larry’s alcoholism and abuse was also the reason for their divorce.

• He left them with nothing. They lost their home and their car. My grandmother had to work harder than ever, spending her life waitressing and cleaning houses for a living.

• By the time I was born, she was remarried to Tom Cason, so I grew up with him as my papaw.

Lila Cason• The picture on the left is of Lila

when she was fifteen. This is one of the few and only pictures she has of her childhood.

• The picture on the right was from my mom and aunt’s high school graduation. This picture symbolizes a proud moment in Lila’s life because she could say she basically raised these two by herself and she finally got to see them graduate. Her ex-husband, their father, Larry, never even came.

Larry Vance• My maternal grandfather, Larry Vance, was born on October 3, 1944.

• Similar to Lila’s family, his family was also very dysfunctional.

• His biological mother, Etta Smith, was only sixteen when she gave birth to him and she gave him away when she realized that she could not raise him on her own.

• Her neighbor, Luther Vance, who is believed to be Larry’s real dad, and his wife, Kathryn, adopted him. Larry was raised by his adopted parents from the age of three, but there were no adoption papers, so we cannot be sure if it was a legal adoption.

• His father was a poor coalminer, he was illiterate, and he got arrested for making moonshine.

• His adopted mother targeted her abuse toward only him, because of her husband’s infidelity with the teenage neighbor, Etta.

Larry Vance• In line 1309, you can see where

his mother married Ronald Proctor, but on Larry’s birth certificate, he is not the father.

• To the right, is a photo of Larry as a child with his adopted father, Luther Vance, who is rumored to have been his real father.

Larry Vance• He met Lila while she was

babysitting for him and his first wife.

• He soon divorced his first wife and then married Lila.

• He began drinking and abusing his family.

• After my nana divorced him, he moved back to West Virginia.

• I only saw him a few times before he died in West Virginia in 2004.

Different Generations, Different Lives

My ancestors

• They lived tough lives filled with hardships and problem after problem.

• No one had the opportunity for a higher education.

• There was drunkenness and abuse from husbands, with divorce soon following.

• There was also abuse from some mothers.

• None of my family grew up in church or knew much about God.

• The word dysfunctional could sum up any of their families.

My life

• I may have problems in my life, but for the most part they are a lot more simple.

• I have the opportunity to attend UCF and be a first generation college graduate.

• I have been blessed with a tight-knit family who loves and cares about each other.

• My parents have been happily married for over twenty years and set a great example for me and my little sister.

• My family has raised me and my sister in church, giving us a great foundation in life.

Although it has been interesting to learn more about my extended ancestors, I am definitely glad that I have not carried on the dysfunctional family gene and do not have the hardships that they have had to face. I guess you could say they paved the way by coming to America for a better life, however, I truly believe that it was not until my parents decided that they were going to take their own path, did anything change. I am very close to my parents and my maternal grandparents, but I would not say that any of their impact on my life has to do with our ancestors or their ethnicity. Every person is different and every generation is different. We each have the power to make our own decisions in our life that will affect who we are and shape who we will become.

Conclusion