Like many Sicilians who immigrated to Louisiana in the late 1800s, my family set up a corner grocery in New Orleans. From this small store grew a business that became New Orleans' oldest family-owned grocery. Ferrara Supermarket, however, eventually feuded my father and aunt, dividing our family. Grandpa didn't understand how a business, which had supported his family for nearly a century, had separated two of his children. He seemed to favor my aunt over my father, and I lost much of my respect for him. It wouldn't be until I evacuated with my grandparents during Hurricane Katrina that I would gain my faith back in Grandpa. A few weeks after the storm hit, Grandpa learned in a single day that his house had flooded, his grocery was ruined, and he had three months left to live. His sickness did, however, unify the two fighting sides of our family.
","abstract_html":"<p>Like many Sicilians who immigrated to Louisiana in the late 1800s, my family set up a corner grocery in New Orleans. From this small store grew a business that became New Orleans' oldest family-owned grocery. Ferrara Supermarket, however, eventually feuded my father and aunt, dividing our family. Grandpa didn't understand how a business, which had supported his family for nearly a century, had separated two of his children. He seemed to favor my aunt over my father, and I lost much of my respect for him. It wouldn't be until I evacuated with my grandparents during Hurricane Katrina that I would gain my faith back in Grandpa. A few weeks after the storm hit, Grandpa learned in a single day that his house had flooded, his grocery was ruined, and he had three months left to live. His sickness did, however, unify the two fighting sides of our family.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ferrara, Amy Marie"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.F.A.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Bates, Randolph","Leake, Joanna","Thornton, Neil"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2007,"date_issued":"2007-05-18T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2007-05-18T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:29:02Z","subjects":[],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1059","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Bates, Randolph","Leake, Joanna","Thornton, Neil"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Ferrara, Amy Marie"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2020-06-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.F.A."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1059"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Like many Sicilians who immigrated to Louisiana in the late 1800s, my family set up a corner grocery in New Orleans. From this small store grew a business that became New Orleans' oldest family-owned grocery. Ferrara Supermarket, however, eventually feuded my father and aunt, dividing our family. Grandpa didn't understand how a business, which had supported his family for nearly a century, had separated two of his children. He seemed to favor my aunt over my father, and I lost much of my respect for him. It wouldn't be until I evacuated with my grandparents during Hurricane Katrina that I would gain my faith back in Grandpa. A few weeks after the storm hit, Grandpa learned in a single day that his house had flooded, his grocery was ruined, and he had three months left to live. His sickness did, however, unify the two fighting sides of our family.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The New Orleans Grocery Man: Ferrara Supermarket's Mr. Merrill"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Bates, Randolph","Leake, Joanna","Thornton, Neil"],"dc:creator":["Ferrara, Amy Marie"],"dc:date.available":["2020-06-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Like many Sicilians who immigrated to Louisiana in the late 1800s, my family set up a corner grocery in New Orleans. From this small store grew a business that became New Orleans' oldest family-owned grocery. Ferrara Supermarket, however, eventually feuded my father and aunt, dividing our family. Grandpa didn't understand how a business, which had supported his family for nearly a century, had separated two of his children. He seemed to favor my aunt over my father, and I lost much of my respect for him. It wouldn't be until I evacuated with my grandparents during Hurricane Katrina that I would gain my faith back in Grandpa. A few weeks after the storm hit, Grandpa learned in a single day that his house had flooded, his grocery was ruined, and he had three months left to live. His sickness did, however, unify the two fighting sides of our family.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1059"],"dc:title":["The New Orleans Grocery Man: Ferrara Supermarket's Mr. Merrill"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.F.A."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:29:02Z"}