The deepest cut that comes from losing a loved one is the fact that they take things with them. They take distinctive things, things they alone gave and as such, cannot be replicated. Eight years ago yesterday, my father died. With him went his particular approach to traditions, his particular …
Family
An unforgetable surprise I received when doing family research in Italy
I have talked extensively on The Italian American Podcast and on our blog about my trip to Italy this past summer, where I met my living Italian relatives for the first time. What I haven’t talked about, however, is some of the things I learned about my family history while there; things I never …
The serious business of your Italian name
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose/By any other name would smell as sweet, wrote Shakespeare, but I’m going to argue with Shakespeare here. As an Italian American from New York, I have enough bravado to do that. A powerful and enduring Southern-Italian tradition is the naming of children …