Family reunites after 9-11

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr.
On September 11, 2001 nearly 3,000 people were killed in the largest terrorist attack on this country. The days following that tragic act of violence, the country united. Regardless of whom you were angry with or not talking to prior to the attacks, we all came together.

For the Gago-Vieira family, September 11, 2001 is the reason they are all together.

Over 80 members of the Gago-Vieira family attended the 10th Annual Cousin’s Day BBQ over the Labor Day weekend.

“Our grandparents had 17 kids between the years 1949 and 1970,” said Erik Vieira. “In the ’90s there was some animosity and grudges between our aunts and uncles. Our best friends, who were our cousins, started to be affected by this.”

Vieira stated that he had relatives working at the World Trade Center, and because of that horrific day, he and his fellow cousins decided to hold a family reunion. “We had a glimpse of reality and how short life can be,” said Vieira. He stated that the cousins knew they had nothing to do with the grudges among their parents, so the 32 of them held a unity party on Labor Day. For the past ten years, the party has been held and the entire family is reunited.

Emilo Vieira Gago and Livia Rosario Cruz Gago lived in Portugal. During the first 21 years of their marriage they had 17 children. In 1974, Livia immigrated to the United States with four of her daughters. Numbers five and seven were sent to school to learn English, while numbers eight and nine, who were 13 and 14 years old, were sent to work. Within six months all but one of the children was in the United States.

Alzira Cruz Gago Vicente was the first born, and she stayed in Portugal with her dad to take care of the clan while her mom and sisters started to set up a life for everyone in the United States. Life was not easy for the large family; kids all started working at a very young age and it was intense manual labor.

Of the 17 children, 15 are living in the Long Branch area. Two of the children, twins, died shortly after birth. Vieira stated this year’s 10th annual party had 13 of the 15 children in attendance, all 32 cousins and 20 second generation cousins and spouses.

Using the Fireman’s Field in Ocean Township, over 80 Gago-Vieira family members attended the Labor Day weekend BBQ.

One of the unique parts of the family get-together were the shirts everyone had on. The original 15 children of Livia and Emilo, who passed away in 1999, had green shirts with the appropriate number of 1 to 17. All the cousins had blue shirts with numbers 1-32, and the second generation cousins had on cream-colored shirts with numbers 1-20.

They all participated in family fun events from water balloon toss, egg on a spoon race, volleyball, dizzy bat, and tug of war. One thing that was not allowed at the party was alcohol. The event was capped off with a family trivia contest.

Originally published Sept. 8, 2011