52 Ancestors Week 2: Favorite Photo

From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 2's theme is "Favorite Photo." This should be a fun week! What is a favorite family photo of yours? If you're thinking, "Oh, but I don't have any old family photos," remember that you are a part of your family history! It doesn't have to be a photo of a great-great-great-grandfather. What about a favorite photo of someone in a more recent generation, like your parents, siblings, or even yourself. Why is it a favorite photo? What is the story behind it?

Look at this photograph....

Oh, no. We are NOT opening with one of the most overplayed songs in the history of music! Sorry. No mp3 of Nickelback's "Photograph" here. That's right up there with "All Star" by Smash Mouth. I know some people may like the song. It's an okay song. It's just been played over, and over and over again. This was made worse by my generation since we tend to use it for high school reunions and stuff. Wouldn't it have been much easier to just go with something like "Graduation" or something by Taylor Swift? At least then we'd know what to expect with her songs.

Anyway, the topic this week is favorite photos. At the time I am writing this blog, I am currently listening to the "Coco" soundtrack and there's a reason for that. One of my favorite pictures reminds me of the main song of the 2017 movie. It's simply called "Remember Me". I am convinced that this song is basically the theme song for all of genealogy regardless of where you or your family came from in the world. This song speaks to all who study the past and those who came before. Give it a listen. I'll wait.

For even if I'm far away, I hold you in my heart...

One of my favorite family pictures of all time is this one. This is a picture of Vincenzo Ferraiolo, his wife Maria Tedesco and their children (from left to right)  Marco and his sister, Nicole. Looking at it now, reminds me of the photo of Miguel Rivera's 2x great-grandparents. You can sort of see why if you've seen the movie.

If not: A picture of Miguel's family is a huge, huge plot point as pictures of deceased relatives on an ofrenda during la Dia de los Muetros or Day of the Dead allows the spirit to cross over. Miguel takes the pic and finds himself in the Land of the dead and has to mend a few broken hearts before he joins his family there in a race against time. It's a really good movie. No wonder it won an Oscar!

According to my great-aunt, this picture was taken shortly after the Ferraiolos arrived in New York in the spring of 1929. They had left their home town of San Pietro a Maida, traveled to Naples and went across the ocean from Italy to a new life in America on board a ship called the Roma.

Vincenzo had made the trip many times. This, however, was a first for my grandfather who was probably three or four, my great-aunt and of course my great-grandmother. As you can see the family is well dressed and posed really well despite enduring a really, really long trip. Can you imagine crossing an ocean with two small children? It couldn't have been easy as the trip took a long time.

How I got the picture in the first place is interesting. I told my great-aunt that I was collecting photos of the family to put on the tree and I wondered if she had any she'd like to share with me. So, over Thanksgiving in 2018, she had her daughter take pictures of the family pictures and e-mailed them to me. This one caught my eye immediately. Everyone looked great and sharply dressed. It was an amazing photo!

I had thought about editing it as I have a history of editing photos and other things. I thought about it because I wasn't a fan of the lines on the photo. But, I figured I'd leave it. I think it adds character and you can still see who's who. You can tell the picture was taken in the late 1920s judging by everybody's outfits. I did try some experiments. But, I was told to just let it be. It's a great copy of a really great photo. Plus my great-aunt gave me such a great gift! How could I edit it? So, what I will most likely do is print it out on super glossy paper. That way it will look like an original photo brought to the 21st century through time and space.

I remember when I got the picture, I showed my brother and he looked at our grandfather and was like "That....That's Jeremy!" Jeremy is my youngest nephew and he does look a lot like Grandpa Marco. It's really cool.

The picture is my favorite out of all the pictures I have because it showed my ancestors arriving in America and it's the only one I have of the entire family. I have two pics of Vincenzo and Maria together. I have pics of Vincenzo with one of his children. Getting pics of all four together is really rare because Maria died in 1943. It's really sad because it was a few years before my father was born. She didn't live long enough to see her grandson. But, her spirit lives on in my great-aunt, my dad, brother and of course myself. It was still nice to see all four together and I hope that there are other pictures like that. My great-aunt still has a ton of pictures I haven't seen and I hope I get to see them soon! Does she have more of Maria? I don't know. But, I'm off to watch "Coco" on Disney +!

"Know that I'm with you the only way that I can be. Until you're in my arms again. Remember me!"