Moments in Flight: A Memoir

The title of Jo-Ann Vega’s recent memoir, Moments in Flight, might lead one to believe it is about an aviatrix, but it is actually a bold, sentimental, and at times frightening time capsule depicting what it’s like as a first generation Italian American in New York City. At the same time it uncovers a meaningful exploration of what it means to gradually discover one’s self. The author pays homage to her ancestors in the dedication by recognizing that their courageous voyages, beginning in 1903 from Italy to New York, made life possible for her.

Each chapter begins with a quote tied to Vega’s themes. One chapter, entitled “Escape from the Mezzogiorno” (which literally means mid-day, referring to southern Italy where the sun shines intensely at mid-day), begins with a quote from Job in the Bible: “I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.” Here the reader is introduced to the backstory of Italian immigration. Immigrants from southern Italy fled violence, volcanic eruptions, homelessness, diseases, and inhumane treatment with the hope of more opportunities for the one thing they valued most: la famiglia (the family).

Vega’s Grandma Antoinette “would speak with pride at having completed three years of school and being able to read and write.” Many of the more than four million Italians who migrated to the States between 1880 and 1920 viewed education as a threat to the family; thus, many children (females especially) were pulled out of school after just a few years. Though her family endured many forms of discrimination suffered by immigrants to this country, Vega managed to graduate college and rise in the ranks of a profession where she would eventually be sought after as a leading expert.

Old World expectations complicate Vega’s struggle to make her way and discover her strengths. She feels at times estranged from her parents, and yet connected in ways that allow her to begin to appreciate them for their courage and persistence in maintaining family in the best ways they knew. She reveals the main elements of her ethnic heritage (la via vecchia) as suspicion of others, self-sacrifice, thrift, caution, loyalty to loved ones, and endurance. She writes: “How do I reconcile my disappointment with la famiglia and remain faithful to the theme of lasting feelings of gratitude? By recognizing both can exist at the same time.”

Overall, despite the potentially misleading title and the messy cover image, this is an interesting and deeply meaningful memoir. Anyone interested in the immigrant experience in America would find this book relatable; there is so much to be learned from the histories of others.