Alberto Biondi

I grew up in a small Italian village in the midst of a Great World War.

Until I was 15, I studied in shell of a school to become a priest,

But I ran offto the Sicilian lumber yards so I could earn enough to pay for my voyage to America.

I had friends and relatives from my home village in Italy who had settled in a small Illinois town called Highwood.

I spoke very broken English and could not easily communicate with other Americans, but I found work as a stone mason, and began to excel at my new profession.

The structures I built were beautiful elaborate patios and stairways for rich men's houses on the lakeshore.

I helped erect enormous churches, chapels, and temples made of stone.

I worked day in and day out, in the heat and the rain, I would come home covered in dust and dried cement, blisters on my hands and sand in my eyes.

I earned enough to buy a small house in a middle-class neighborhood and then I moved back to Italy to get married and to bring my wife back to our new home in America.

I worked tirelessly for the next 65 years of my life.

I loved the work of setting stones and expressing myself through my work.

There was nothing better than finishing a job and the satisfaction that came when looking over my work of art.

I have left my mark on the quickly developing area of Northern Illinois, almost every town you go through the signs of my artistry and brutal labor are clearly visible.

I helped build America.

Mike Garamoni