The O’Malley Family
DH:
Ian Sean (24)
DW:
Nora Maeve (24)
DD:
Bridget Hope (5) (
Jade Diana)
DD:
Kathleen Ivy (3) (Endia)
DS:
The year is 1892, and the family of the young Irish bank clerk and his kindergarten teacher wife is rolling along smoothly, but things may change for them very soon. Ian’s employer, who has been watching him and is very impressed with his intelligence and determination, has offered to use his influence at New
York University to get
Ian a scholarship.
Ian is thrilled at the opportunity, but he is torn about whether to accept the offer or not. For one thing, his Irish pride balks at accepting anyone’s help, and for another, he has a growing family to support.
Bridget has recently started school,
Kathleen is growing so quickly, and he cannot see how he could work and attend to his studies. But he wants very much to be able to make a better life for his family, especially since it is getting bigger—he and
Nora just welcomed a son! They want his FN to be Irish and his MN to honor Ian’s generous employer,
James Hector Dillingham.
The Feldman Family
DH:
Avrum Hersh (30)
DW:
Raisa Hodel (26)
DD/DS:
Ruth Sarah /
Aaron Matthew (5) (notabarbiedol and knitastick)
DS:
Samuel Joshua (2) (itsjustme2407)
DD:
The year is 1897, and
Avrum and
Raisa are moving again, this time to a bigger house on the edge of the town where their tailor’s shop is. They are finally leaving the small apartment above the shop into a house of their own, which they bought from an old man who was leaving to live with his son in Boston.
Avrum and
Raisa are both incredibly proud of their new house and have had all of their friends over for tea to show it off. They have made it a blend of Jewish, Russian, and American styles of furniture and decoration, so their children will know all of the cultures they belong to. And speaking of children,
Raisa and
Avrum recently welcomed a daughter! They want both her names to be English versions of Jewish names, and for her MN to start with an H.
The
Shu Family
DH:
Li Gang (27)
DW:
Min Huan (22)
DS:
Jian Yun (5) (itsjustme2407)
DD:
Zhen Min (2) (
Eris)
DD:
The year is 1899, and the end of the century seems to have brought an end to the
Shu family’s troubles as well.
Li Gang finally found a decent job about a year after was born, working in a barbershop. The pay is good enough that he and
Min Huan were able to move out of their family’s home and into one of their own, in a nice apartment. It isn’t big or fancy, but it is theirs and they have much more space, which is a very good thing as
Min Huan has just given birth to another daughter! They want her FN and MN to be Chinese, and for one part to mean “prosperity.”
The Rossi Family
DH:
Giacomo Celio (26)
DW:
Alessandra Vittoria (24)
DS:
Leonardo Alessio (3) (notabarbiedol)
DS:
The year is 1907, and the Rossi family is doing pretty well.
Giacomo is still working for another jeweler, but his pay is good and the family is able to live comfortably, if not as richly as they had hoped. But
Alessandra, unlike many immigrant wives, is able to stay home with the children and not work, which is a good thing because she and
Giacomo just added another son to their family! They want his FN and MN to be Italian with one having an English nickname he can be called by.
The Garcia Family
DH:
Bernardo Miguel (21)
DW:
Marisol Isabel (16)
DD:
The year is 1912, and
Bernardo has decided to take his young bride and move to
Nevada, where they have big dreams of owning their own ranch someday. But for now they have to settle for jobs as a cattle hand and a cook on a ranch someone else owns. They both agree they can’t complain. Though they had a semi-arranged marriage, with their parents introducing them and gently pushing them together, the two are very much in love. They have jobs that pay well enough that they can save, and only recently they got the greatest good luck of all—a newborn daughter! They want her FN and MN to be Spanish, and for on of them to start with M (NOT
Maria).