♥ Their Story is My Story…

Coincidentally, October is National Italian American Heritage Month...and as I re-share my story (starting a few days ago with Roots Redux – Part 1: On Being Italian? Or Growing Up Italian), back in 2013 I then found myself digging up some roots...family roots.

♥ ♦ ♥

“We all grow up with the weight of history on us.  Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies.”

~ Shirley Abbott

As my relationship to my Italian roots evolved, it became very personal for me and coincided with my own digging to apply for dual citizenship (since I qualified through my paternal grandfather) and how that research unfolded was another piece in my story…a story I never even thought about much growing up or, to be honest, for most of my adult life…

Some Roots Run Deep!

Unlike some who have traced their family tree back many generations, it wasn’t something we discussed much (translate = almost never). Now I have no one to ask, to fill in the blanks, to connect the dots.  As I look at all that I do have –a few black and white photos, copies of certificates, a few names and dates – I now feel a need to find the threads, to know more… because it is a huge part of my story -who I am and why I am here today.

Among the millions of immigrants who came to America from Italy at the end of the 19^th century, my grandparents were among them. My paternal grandparents were among those who came them through Ellis Island. (I’m still searching for details about my Mother’s side.)

“Like branches on a tree we grow in different directions, yet our roots remain as one. Each of our lives will always be a special part of the other.”

—Anonymous

Only recently I saw a record of the ship’s manifest that my paternal grandfather sailed on from Naples to New York in 1900. He was only 23 years old, he had $20. It gave me goose bumps. Then we found the 1924 census; now living in the Bronx, married with a family, among them my father who was only 5 years old at the time. There is an address and records showing that older brothers and sisters were already working to help out.  It made everything so “real” – I was deeply moved.

(Note: I later found the ship’s manifest for my maternal grandparents who sailed from Genoa together in 1910!)

Overall, however, the search has raised more questions than answers. I’m told so often how I resemble my Mother and Father in so many ways…of course…but then, they resembled theirs and so on, the generations before.

So, what features do I share with them? The color of my hair or the sound of my voice? My mannerisms? My laugh? And how did they meet? What were they like? Whose legacy am I a part of and how? Surely there are DNA threads…those ties that bind us…but then there is all that is lost.

“Never destroy any aspect of personality, for what you think is the wild branch may be the heart of the tree.”

—Mrs. Henry George

I have a few more pieces of the puzzle to locate, then the bureaucratic dance to get that dual citizenship will begin in earnest. And, why bother? Why do I want it? I’m not really sure… OK, I can stay in Italy longer, I can work there if I want to…but I think it is something far more intangible… something from the heart, I think it may be to bring it all back full circle in some way...I’ll let you know when it’s said and done…

And really, regardless of where our family is from or where the trail leads, ultimately isn’t it about feeling that, in your heart, you’ve arrived home?

♦ In case you missed Roots Redux – Part 1: On Being Italian? Or Growing Up Italian

♦ Coming SOON: Roots Redux – Part 3: Challenged to a “Dual”… Dual Citizenship That Is!

Have you explored your genealogy and roots? Have you looked into dual citizenship? Please share!