Mr. Giovanni was very proud that his grandson, Joseph, was the first in the family to be born in America. He took little Joseph on outings whenever he could be convinced to take a day off work at the grocery store that he owned. It's not that his employees couldn't manage the shop without him, nor was it that he had to work for the money, as the store made a good profit for its time. But Mr. Giovanni had the work ethic from the old country. Taking a day off just wasn't something you did. When the family could convince Mr. Giovanni to take an occasional Saturday off, he would always lead Joseph on an adventure. The outings weren't the typical grandson/Pappy outings of zoo, carnaval, or park, but a working outing: visiting other stores, shops, or factories, where they weren't taking the day off. It's not that Mr. Giovanni wanted to show Joseph that other people were working while they took the day off, as one of the aunties feared, but that Mr. Giovanni wanted Joseph to see all the possibilities before him. Not only Pappy's grocery store, but also the bakery, flower shop, police station, and factory. And even though their outings were restricted to how far they could walk to and back before early Mass and supper, Mr. Giovanni also told Joseph of other job possibilities further from their own neighborhood, he wanted to inspire Joseph to the greatness Pappy knew he had.
Mr. Giovanni passed on when Joseph was only ten, and all young Joseph was left with were the memories of the walks with Pappy, the talks with Pappy, the time alone with Pappy. Joseph carried those memories with him into adulthood, and despite lack of support from the rest of his family, he followed his dreams beyond all hardships, as he knew Pappy would have wanted.
He became the first fashion stylest in the lower east side, and his designs still live on today: his designs were featured in the origional Broadway prouction of Gypsy.