1925May 20
Hoboken beginnings
Sam is born.
From Hoboken to Washington, the Pacific to the Post Office, Gramps is born.
The Timeline
The world behind the stories.
19 moments shown
1927Sept. 16
Hoboken beginnings
Marietta is born.
Marietta’s stories will eventually range from Hoboken streets and the dental office to Stevens, politics, family life and a remarkable talent for refusing to be pushed around.
1942age 16–17
Two stories start at once
Sam first sees Marietta while beginning to consider the Navy.
In the same period, Gramps describes the draft-age change that pushed him toward trying to enlist. An (attempted) love story and a war story overlap immediately.
1943–46World War II
U.S. Navy Armed Guard
Sam serves aboard merchant ships.
Sam becomes a U.S. Navy Signalman 2nd Class in the Naval Armed Guard, assigned aboard the SS Alcoa Pegasus & the SS West Cusseta. The recording carries him from San Francisco to the South Pacific and eventually British Columbia.
1945Aug. 14
Vancouver
Japan surrenders. Gramps loses a hat.
Gramps’ ship reached New Westminster as Japan surrendered, then he went into Vancouver for the celebration. And then that kid…
1947June 8
The love story continues
Sam and Marietta marry.
The courtship story finally gets its payoff. Gramps decided at seventeen that Gram was the girl he was going to marry. Five years later, he did.
1948young family
Conrad is here!
Conrad is born.
As the family watched the hospital window from their house, Gram turned plums into flying projectiles.
1954dental years
The dental office
Marietta works in the dental office with Dr. Peluso.
Pulled teeth, capuzzelle, Tony Provenzano, alcohol, and eventually the day she walked out.
1962Stevens begins
A long working era
Marietta goes full-time at Stevens.
Stevens Institute is the setting for some of Gram’s most memorable stories: three-cent raises, battles over pensions, and a boss who learned the hard way.
1976Aug. 29
A new generation
Linda & Christine are born.
A surprise nobody expected officially turns “Sam & Marietta” into “Gram & Gramps.”
1977April 23
Hoboken Post Office
Sam becomes Postmaster.
After joining the Hoboken Post Office after the war and working his way through the ranks, Sam is appointed Hoboken Postmaster.
1981a new home
Leaving Hoboken
Sam and Marietta move to Manalapan.
Hoboken remains the center of the old stories, but later family memories begin shifting outward. Manalapan becomes the setting for at least one perfectly Gram-like confrontation in an A&P line.
1982Sept. 15
One more grandchild
Michael is born.
The last (but not least!) grandchild enters the story.
1986May
Two careers close
Retirement arrives.
Marietta retires from Stevens and Sam retires as Hoboken Postmaster in May.
1991Washington, NJ
Later years
Bridle Lane
Sam and Marietta move to Washington, New Jersey, including the caregiving years with Mamom and a surprisingly funny emergency-squad visit.
1997June 8
Fifty years married
A Golden Anniversary
Sam and Marietta enjoy cake to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.
2018Dec. 26
The afternoon that became the archive
We hit record.
The conversation, with its interruptions, heckling, forgotten details, corrections and all, became nearly two hours of Gram and Gramps, preserved.
2022June 8
Seventy-five years
One more extraordinary anniversary.
Sam and Marietta reach 75 years of marriage, three quarters of a century after the courtship Gramps insists began the instant he saw her walking down a Hoboken street.
2022October
The end of their love story
Sam and Marietta pass away five days apart.
Sam on October 7 at 97. Marietta on October 12 at 95. Unwilling to remain apart, even 75 years later.