52 Ancestors Week 47: Random Number

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 47

The theme for Week 47 is "Random Number." This is a fun exercise -- pick a random number between 1 and 100. Then, either take a list of everyone in your tree and scroll down to that number or print out an ancestor chart and pick the person in that number slot. (You might need to go to a second chart if you picked a big number!) Then write a little bit about that person.

RNGs are why so many people put in so many hours in
role- playing games.

  Oh, I love random number generators. He said, sarcastically. If you’ve played role-playing games like Pokemon you’ll quickly find that numbers play an important role in stats and power levels. This is why I like to play for fun and why I likely won’t be going to the Nintendo World Championships any time soon. Anyway, I assigned my ancestors a number like Amy suggested and got 15 in the random number generator I found on Google. Lucky number 15 is…          

Marco, Caterina and 
Adriana.

My second great-grandmother, Caterina Coppola! Whew. It’s a good thing the random number generator picked her and not someone I know little about. That could have been awkward and made for a very short blog entry! Anyway, let’s talk about Caterina. The reason why I know so much about her is simply because my cousin, who is also named Caterina, told me all about her.

She was born in San Pietro a Maida in 1870 to Paolo Coppola and Rosa Suverato. Growing up, I knew a little bit about her life. I knew her brother Paolo and sister Concetta had moved to Haverhill, obviously. The families stayed in touch for a number of years thanks to my grandfather, Marco. 

That was just about all I knew about the lady until I started talking to my cousin Caterina. Naturally, my great-aunt Nicolina told me bits and pieces as well. But, it was Caterina whole told me the most stories since they were in close proximity to one another. Makes sense considering Nicolina, like Marco, was living in America.

Right off the bat Caterina told me that her grandmother was a nice lady and was a generous sort. She was kind and was very much a typical Italian grandmother. For this reason alone she reminded me of my grandmother Ollie who was also kind to a fault. Of course she likely had to be firm when she needed to be because she had over a dozen children. Sadly, Caterina only knew of seven  children she had with her husband, Marco.

Caterina’s mom, Concetta

That was a bit surprising to me as I only knew about my great-grandfather Vincenzo and maybe two or three of his siblings.  My great-aunt was actually named after her uncle Nicola who died trying to save the boyfriend of one of his sisters from drowning! I’m sure Caterina appreciated that. 

While she was growing up, Caterina was often at her grandmother’ss house in San Pietro. It was there that she often spoke fondly of her brother Paolo, the detective and her sister Concetta who had all long since moved to Haverhill when Caterina came around and had kept in touch with their sister over the years. Part of me wonders if anyone saved letters or any other correspondence. I would give almost anything to see them! Perhaps someone did. I can only hope.

Caterina also told me about how her grandmother’s cousin Maria often visited.

 I can only imagine the stories being told to Caterina  at such a young age. It must have been a great experience! Maria’s son Lorenzo Astorino married Caterina’s daughter, Caterina and I am sure that the two bonded over the fact that their children lived so far away. The Astorinios moved to Buenos Aires and Caterina herself had family in Haverhill.

Pic taken by Meli Astorino.

In her later years, Caterina developed eye issues and lived with her granddaughter and her family for a number of years. From what I understand she became legally blind and needed help getting around. My cousin naturally helped her grandmother out and took care of her just as her grandmother did when she was little. Talk about going full circle!

Caterina passed away in the December of 1962 and to this day my cousin makes it a point to visit her grave whenever she returns to San Pietro. She often says a prayer and part of me wonders if she mentions me, the great-grandson of Caterina’s son Vincenzo. It might be wishful thinking. You never know!

 I’m sure she watches over her descendants from the great beyond, she likely knows all about me, Melina and her other descendants. It’s nice to think about.

I still have a few unanswered questions about my second great-grandmother. I want to know how we got her birth record. My cousin thinks it might have been for a passport or something. There are a few other odds and ends. I’m just glad Caterina is around to help me learn more about my second great-grandmother and the rest of the Coppolas!

See ya next time!