The Beginning of a Family
Mishell Nassif Milton’s Immigration record.
My great grandfather, Mishell Nassif Milton, immigrated to America from Lebanon at the age of eleven years old in the hope that he could fulfill what he perceived to be the American dream. His version of the American dream was to find a good job and start a family that would have a better life than he did. He achieved this dream by being a hard worker, starting a successful business, and finding his wife, to whom he was married to until her death in 1997. He has lived in the Birmingham area since he immigrated to the United States, and had his family prospered on the business that he built.
When my great grandfather moved to the United States in 1924, he spoke very little English and did not have much of an education. Despite this lack of education, he managed to graduate from high school, although I do not know which one, and acquired a job working at a grocery store. He quickly worked his way up from a shelf stocker to a cashier, then eventually all the way up to being in a managerial position.
Mishell Nassif Milton and his wife, Louise Deep, shortly after their marriage.
At around this time Mishell would meet his future wife, Louise Deep, at a church event in Birmingham. They would go on to have two children, my grandmother, Mary Jo Milton, and my great uncle, Tom Milton. After the birth of his children, he had completed one part of his dream by finding his wife and starting a family. All my great grandfather needed to do now was find a way to make a better life for his children than he had when he was a child.
Mishell Nassif Milton in his military uniform.
His first step in doing this was saving up the money that he had earned from his job in the grocery store and saving up money he earned at his next job, serving the United States in World War II, as a private in the Navy. After World War II ended, my great grandfather had saved up enough money to start his own grocery store in Birmingham, which he called Milton Groceries. His store allowed him to have a good source of steady income, which allowed his children to have a better life than he had. By starting up this successful business, he achieved the rest of his dream and set up the rest of his family for success. By coming to the United States with total uncertainty and starting a good life for himself and his future family, my great grandfather taught my family and me many valuable lessons that I still hold true to today.
When my great grandfather died in 2009, I was only thirteen years old, but through this research I did on him, I discovered many values that he taught my family. He taught me what true happiness is, which in his eyes and mine now is surrounding yourself with people that care about you and that you care about on a daily basis. He also taught me to enjoy every day that I have granted to me because anyone could pass away at any given time, which is what happened to him. Above all else, he taught me the value of hard work. He illustrated to me that if you want something bad enough in life, and you are willing to do the work necessary to accomplish your goals then you can achieve them. These lessons are what I most remember and cherish about him, and he serves as an impeccable example for the rest of my family.