L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 12 L'Italo-Americano the biggest gift of all. "The thing I love most about Italy is that it gave me my grand- parents. May they rest in p e a c e , " s a y s J o a n n e Bruccoleri. Some of you honored them and their heri- tage by doing something incredibly meaningful and heart warming: here's the s t o r y o f K r i s t i P e t r o N i e d z w i e c k i : " L a s t year my husband and I renewed our marriage vows in the church where my grand- p a r e n t s w e r e baptized. They m a r r i e d i n t h e U S . "When we visited the town my nonni grew up in, unbek- nownst to me — and lear- ning it only after sharing pic- tures with my cousin — my wife and I apparently stood right in front of the house my nonna lived in well over 100 years ago. Whenever I step off of the plane onto the Italian tarmac I feel like I am home." Some memories are filled with love and music, as in the c a s e o f A n g e l a C o l o n n a C a l o g e r o , w h o h a d developed T he fourth week o n l o c k d o w n i n I t a l y s t a r t s t o d a y , 3 0 t h o f M a r c h . F i f t e e n days ago, I made a post on L'Italo-Americano Face- book page, asking to you all to tell us what you loved the most about Italy. A place, a song, a memory, it didn't really matter: the idea was to bring us all together in one place, share something mea- ningful to show our country we loved her. Y o u r r e s p o n s e w a s o v e r w h e l m i n g . F r o m childhood memories to jour- neys of self-discovery, from dreams and wishes to the pride of belonging to a com- munity that, it was evident in your words, is incredibly united and is, truly, one and united. You see, what we often don't realize in Italy is how profound the connec- tion of Italian-American to their European Motherland is; m i s g u i d e d a s w e p r o b a b l y are by the cari- c a t u r a l r e p r e - s e n t a - t i o n s La parola a voi: love for Italy from L'Italo-Americano's readers o f s o m e t v s h o w s a n d movies, many of us never really understood how close we all are in values, habits, h e r i t a g e . R e a d i n g y o u r words, reading those simple, honest, touching comments really brought it all home. There was a lot of love and beauty in your messages and they deserve a page on the newspaper you support: may they give strength to all of us i n t h i s d i f f i c u l t t i m e , s h o w i n g h o w , e v e n w h e n far, we can really consider each other one big family. La parola a voi, cari let- tori… Many of you shared fond, touching memories of their heritage and families, like Joe Vee who remini- sced about a pleasant and u n e x p e c t e d d i s c o v e r y : a truly special bond with his Italian nonno: "Our ance- stral hometown is Mola di Bari in Puglia. My fondest memory of Mola is spending the summer of 1959 there, when I was a little girl, living in my nonno's house with h i m a n d z i a N i n a e z i o Giovanni, spending each and every day with my cugi- n i a n d l e a r n i n g t o s p e a k Italian fluently. It was the first time I met my nonno ( s a d l y , m i a n o n n a h a d already passed). Every day he would ask me to sing to him a song that was popular t h a t y e a r , C i a o , C i a o , B a m b i n a . I k n e w a l l t h e words and sang it with all my heart for him. I never saw him again, he died the fol- l o w i n g y e a r a n d … h o w I cried and cried." Josephine Bruzzese, whose parents immigrated to the US from Mammola (in the Reggio Calabria provin- ce), wrote she grew up liste- ning to "stories of family, life in Calabria and food." She eventually traveled to Mammola for the first time in 1972 and the trip left a mark in her heart: "I can still hear my old aunt in her 90s stopping and telling all who I was." The trip also made her closer to her parents, "Just t o s e e w h e r e m y p a r e n t s came from… it was an extre- mely sentimental and emo- tional four days. Mammola is a hill town, and just to look u p t o t h e m o u n t a i n s a n d remembering the stories of my dad walking all over was amazing." And then, there's nonni, We honored them by brin- g i n g o u r r e n e w a l b a c k t o where it all began, in the s m a l l m o u n t a i n t o w n o f Sant' Eufemia a Maiella." Some of you shared fond memories of their nonni in the US, too, like Lisa Luna, whose story is such a perfect c a p s u l e o f I t a l i a n a n d Italian-American life: "My g r a n d m o t h e r , J o s e p h i n e Peluso Propersi, cooked the most delicious meals in her tiny kitchen in her 'North American' home in NY. Her dining room was grand and we all enjoyed sitting for h o u r s , e a t i n g , l a u g h i n g , speaking a mix of English and Italian, arguing and sha- ring her creations!" Natalie Novak, too, says she misses h e r g r a n d p a r e n t s — w h o c a m e t o t h e U S f r o m Giovinazzo in 1921 — all the time and that she "was lucky enough to have them in my life until I was a teenager. I miss my Poppy's focaccia." Simple memories, yet close to the heart of each one of us. Simple, cherished memo- ries of joy we all have a ver- sion of. And they are pre- cious, very precious indeed. Some readers "became" Italian-American by heart and not by blood, as it hap- pened to Linda Vogan: "I had the good fortune to live in Italy for two years and I c r i e d w h e n w e l e f t . W e return as often as possible. I love that my children feel the same and for their college essays wrote about their life in Italy, and how it opened their hearts to a country and to people with beautiful pas- sion and compassion. During these challenging times, I close my eyes and put myself at a small agriturismo near Valiano, sitting on our ter- race eating antipasti and enjoying vino locale, while w a t c h i n g t h e d a n c i n g cypress. Heaven on Earth." Similar is the experience of M a r r i o n F e r r a n t e M a r t i n , w h o h a s I t a l i a n ancestry and lived in Verona when her father was statio- ned there in the US Army: "I l o v e d t h e t h r e e y e a r s w e lived there and something I will always remember, besi- des the beauty of the coun- try, are the snowcapped Alps that we could see from our back porch." S o m e p e o p l e m a d e o f their heritage a full time job, as in the case of Eldora Perfilio, who was born in the Belpaese and moved to the US as a child: "The love I have for my beautiful land of birth has no bounds. I was raised to always remember my native land. So now, as an adult, I travel to Italy with groups of 30 or more and share my love of Italy with t h e m . W e h a v e e x p l o r e d many regions over the years and will continue to do so. Looking forward to sharing my Bella Italia with more groups in the future. We will be back there again, as soon as possible. Forza Italia!" Many opened up about their respect and love for Italians, especially in this t i m e o f h a r d s h i p , l i k e Joanne Caruso, who says that she loves especially "the joy and passion of the Italian p e o p l e . I t a l y i s n o t I t a l y Continued to page 14 LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE

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