Grandparents. Grand Stories. Family Treasures

My family is from Hamrun, my great-grandfather on my father’s side lived right next to San Gejtanu Parish Church and my other great-grandfather on my mother’s side behind the local couple of Hamrun. So you can imagine everyone knew everyone back in the day and they also know Sant Gorg Preca but at the time he was not a Sant (well not officially). He was well known throughout Hamrun that he was a holy man and so many people would go to ask for his counselling. But we will get to that in a minute.

Now back in those days thousands of Maltese had made the choose to immigrate, and at that time the places to go were to Australia, England and also Canada, mostly to find work and make a better life, as it was after the war and Malta was sadly not in great shape. Life was hard and work was limited and the poverty was rising rapidly. People found it hard to feed themselves and their family. My family was not any different they also wanted a better life for themselves, although it was a hard and difficult they had to do what was best to survive. My grandmother says my great-grandparents were thinking of going to Canada although they had no one in that country but something drew them to it. But this was a big step for them as they had never gone abroad before and it was a very long trip. As you see at that time it was by boat not like today with an nice air-plain. They know that it was not going to be just an hour or so but perhaps months till they arrive and that is if the weather was kind. My great-grandfather was in the war but he had never been on a boat or a plane, he was always stationed in Malta and my great-grandmother was a house wife always taking care of the children.

Once they had decided to move to Canada, my great-grandmother Carmena went to Dun Gorg Preca. He was at the time a priest in Hamrun’s San Gejtanu Parish Church, but you would also see him walking all around town talking to everyone he meets on the street. When she had talked to him in the church she had asked him to bless her and her family for the long voyage that they are going on as she was very scared and was insertion of what the future has to offer. You can imagine they had to leave everything behind and start a new, they were just going to go with a suitcase each and that was it. Now Dun Gorge Preca being the holy man that he was, gave her the blessing and words of encouragement but also gave her a medallion of Saint Christopher, the patriot Saint of travellers, without saying he also blessed that. Now that medallion my great-grandmother kept it safe throughout the hard voyage to Canada, throughout the years they lived in Canada she kept it close to her and always prayed to Sant Christopher to help her and her family and when the time came for them to return to Malta she still had it on her. When my grandmother Elizabeth got married and was going to go back to Canada to start her life with my uncle, mother and grandfather, she gave it to her to keep her and them all safe, shortly after she passed away.

Now the medallion itself is small in size, you would say as big as a one euro cone and made of metal with a Saint Christopher on the front and a cross and flowers in the back. Its colour as time passed became more blackish but I would think it was much more shiny in the past when it was originally given. But I must say for how long its beet in our family it is still in very good condition, you can still see all the details on it clearly. Now as I said it was passed on to my grandmother Elisabeth who in-turn gave it down to my mother and now when I grow up I hopeful will inherit it. The metal medallion has no real value if you were to sale it, but it has a lot of sentimental value to our family. I for one value it due to the fact that it has been in our family for so long and that it has been through so much. It is also dear to me for the face that Sant Goeg Preca himself was the one that gave it as a gift to my great-grandmother so long ago. I don’t know if it has any historical impact but on our family it had, it gave hope and unity in a time were the world was shattered.

Now new beginnings are beautiful, but they are also frightening, and for people that did not even know how to read or write with young children depending on them, in times of post-war in a new place, that was terrifying but brave. So when I look at this medallion I don’t see a metal medallion, I see my great-grandfather and great-grandmother’s determination, sacrifice, love for their family and willingness to do whatever it took to make a better life for their kids and themselves. I see typical Maltese people that are strong and have willpower to accomplish anything that they set out to do. That gives me pride in my heart and fire in my soul. So on days I myself need that little pick me up I look at it and I pray to Sant Gorg Preca and my grand-parents to give me just a little of that determination that they all had back in the day.