52 Ancestors Week 3: What This Story Means to Me

 From Amy Johnson Crow: The theme for Week 3 is “What This Story Means to Me.” Some people don’t understand the appeal of genealogy. They think it’s only names and dates. What they don’t realize is that those names and dates lead to stories. This week, consider a story in your family history that means a lot to you. 

Part of my extensive Marvel library.

        As a writer, one of my favorite types of stories is one that connects the reader to a wider universe. That's why the universes of Marvel, Star Wars, Star Trek and Doctor Who resonate with me. One small story is part of a bigger universe and makes the world seem lived in and real. Granted, those universes have been around for decades and let's be honest it can be rather daunting to dive into a story that's been going for decades with new material being added every once in a while. Thankfully, we have online encyclopedias and legions of fans out there who are willing to alleviate the problems that come with continuity. Worse comes to worse, there's always a reboot. This is why I never really got into DC Comics despite loving that universe just as much as Marvel.

    On the genealogy side of things, there is one story that sort of connects everything together in a very meaningful way much like a fictional universe. Everything comes together in a way that fills in a family tree or makes the people in it seem real. I've written about my parents' wedding and how both sides of my family tree wanted every relative to be there. I've even written about my cousin Caterina Aleardi's wedding and how my grandfather, grandmother, great-aunt and others all attended the event. This story is a little different. This is the story of  Caterina Coppola and how she was the linchpin connecting Haverhill, Mass and the Calabrian town of San Pietro a Maida.

    My second great-grandmother was very big on family and when her siblings Concetta and Paolo moved to Haverhill she made it a point to stay in contact with them. After they moved, her children Vincenzo and Caterina followed suit as Vincenzo went to Haverhill like her siblings and Caterina moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

    I can only imagine how she felt being separated from her family. Thousands of miles of ocean separated them and everything. One can only imagine what was going through her mind as her children, siblings and several cousins were all the way on the other side of the planet.  Fortunately, she had other family in Europe who helped to fill that void she had when the others left San Pietro.

    In America, relatives like my great-grandfather Vincenzo called her often and even sent letters to his mother. I remember my cousin Caterina telling me how she used to read the letters to her grandmother as her eyesight was getting poor in her later years. I wonder if Caterina saved those letters somewhere because you all know I'd LOVE to see them!

    Through Caterina, the family in Europe learned everything they could about her siblings overseas and when she passed away in 1962 it fell on her daughter Concetta to keep the connection going. Letters were written like the letter I wrote a blog about last year. Vincenzo and other family members were invited to participate in Caterina's wedding in 1969. While we're on that topic, my parents were even invited to go to Italy WITH them. Unfortunately, they had classes and couldn't go. Sigh. Can you imagine if they went? Maybe they did in some alternate reality. Who knows? At least I got a pretty cool story out of that adventure!

    Now, then. This story of Caterina means a lot to me because this was a woman who clearly wanted to keep her family together despite all of the odds stacked against her. Think about the time in which she lived. Air travel was relatively new and cost prohibitive. Sailing across the ocean was tough for some as well. The only thing people could do was write letters and maybe the odd phone call. I think the latter would have been extremely rare!

    Her story of maintaining connections breaks the old trope of family leaving for other countries never to be seen again! To some extent that's true-even in my family. However, people still stayed in touch. Vincenzo's sister Rosa had  my father's graduation picture. How she got it is no real mystery. My grandfather Marco must have mailed his aunt a copy. It's not that deep!

    Caterina basically set the stage for keeping in contact with family and I like to think she did a great job in trying to keep the family together despite long distances and everything.

    Unfortunately, people maintaining the connections passed away and it took a while for people to get back in touch with one another. However, it was Caterina who started it all. It was her dogged determination that kept her family together in the first place and it's definitely something to be admired. That's why I like her story. It defied the customs of the time and it allowed for amazing surprises to pop up every now and then. I was surprised to see my grandparents in Caterina's wedding photos. I was definitely surprised to see my dad's graduation picture in a relative's house in Rome! I wouldn't mind seeing those letters. I hope someone has saved them!

    The weird thing is that I never really heard stories about Caterina growing up. Sure Nicolina would provide me anecdote or two when I asked her about her grandmother. It wasn't until I talked to my cousin that she really came alive for me. Caterina has a lot of fond memories of her grandmother and it shows whenever I talk to her about her. I do sometimes wish that people stayed in touch with the Haverhill family for a lot longer than it did. It would have been nice to have a real head start on my genealogical adventure. But, it is what it is. At least I am in contact with them now and thanks to the Internet, that connection won't be going away any time soon. Huh....Maybe I have some of her dogged determination. That would explain a lot!

    

The wedding of Giuseppe Casarrubea and Caterina Aleardi!

    Caterina's story is clearly that of a woman who worked hard to keep a family together despite differences. She was the connection between the family in America and the family in Europe. She tried her best to keep everyone together and as a result her children tried to maintain those ties despite the distances. Now distances are no longer an issue. People can talk to others across the ocean instantaneously.  The technology is definitely beyond her wildest dreams. I think she'd be happy to know that I've been keeping the connection going this far into the twenty-first century. At least I hope so! She'd be amazed at all the changes and it's her story that drives me to continue maintaining the awesome connections I have made. 

See ya next time!

P..S. Here's an alternate banner I had in mind this week starring a team of heroes who meant a lot to me growing up. 

The New Warriors are property of Marvel Comics