They fell in love and within three weeks Martin and Domenica Cappa were married. Martin went to America to seek a new life for his family. He wanted Domenica and their two young daughters, Catherine and Sarah, to come meet him. Catherine had been born in 1913. Domenica refused to leave Sicily for the trip would be difficult and she feared her and their daughters" lives. Finally, her brother tricked her into going on the boat and they were all reunited.
Catherine Cappa and Charles Scorsese first met in Charles's older sister's apartment building, the same apartment building in which Catherine and her family where living. They noticed each other and they began to date when Catherine was just 17. They finally were married on the 10th of June 1934. After they were married Charles and Catherine Scorsese made their home in the New York suburbs of Queens. It was in Queens that their sons were born: first Frank, in 1936, then Martin, in 1942, November 17th. .
It is very important to remember that in the early part of the century the immigrants who survived the dangerous boat trip and made it to America's shores were faced with many social and economical problems upon their entrance. Immigrants arrived at the invitation of other family members who had painted a bright picture of life in America which in reality was an illusion. What they found was a life much harder than they had imagined but there was a promise of improvement. Many of the immigrants were illiterate. The first generation kept the dialect and learned enough English to get by. The second generation underwent Americanization, learned English, went to school until 16 years of age, spoke English adequately and some dialect. The third generation learned some dialect from their grandparents who for the largest part, were adored by the grand children and many after their death wished to learn Italian as a way to keep alive the memory of their love.
