In January 1999, my husband and I moved to a new city and that move changed much more than our location. For me, it really changed so much in my life. My husband had gotten a promotion and the cost of living in our new city was much less, so I no longer had to work seven days a week. Instead, I signed up with a temp agency so I could work when I wanted to at places that interested me and I could also pursue some hobbies that I was interested in but never had the time to do.
One of those hobbies was researching my family history. I asked my grandparents a lot of questions about our family and learned a lot about genealogy and how to research from this new thing called “the internet”. I ordered microfilms at my local Family History Center (now called FamilySearch Centers) and started building my family history, little by little. I was also writing letters to my ancestral town of Misilmeri, in Palermo Province, asking for information about my grandmother’s family. Specifically, I asked for what is called a Certificato di Stato di Famiglia, or State of the Family Certificate. This document usually lists a husband and wife and all their children, with birthdates, death dates, marriage information and emigration information, if applicable. Via snail mail, I requested a whole bunch of them for different parts of the family and then waited to see if they would respond.
Much to my delight, the vital records office in Misilmeri responded with the documents I had requested, including a Family Certificate for my great-grandmother’s youngest sibling, Caterina Schimmenti, who had married Filippo Saglimbene. According to that document, Filippo and Caterina had a daughter named Francesca Saglimbene who had emigrated in 1994 to a town called San Giorgio su Legnano, near Milan, Italy.
Shortly after I received this document, my Aunt, who worked for a major cruise line, asked if I wanted to go on a Mediterranean cruise with her because they were having a “friends and family” deal. I was a little scared of flying and had never traveled outside the United States before (besides a day trip to the Bahamas!) but I said YES, I absolutely want to go! We had only a few weeks before travel, so I got an expedited passport and began preparing. I realized that we would be flying home from Milan, which meant we would be near where Francesca Saglimbene now lived. Again, this is 1999, before Facebook and all the other ways to find people all around the world existed. But the baby internet still came through because I searched “San Giorgio su Legnano” and found a random guy named Mauro Pescarino who lived in San Giorgio su Legnano. He had made a webpage, in English, about his town and there was an email address on his page!
Just days before we left on our trip, I sent Mauro an email, in English, introducing myself, explaining that I was an American who had researched my family history, that I would be visiting Italy soon and that I might have a long-lost relative living in the same town as him. I asked him if he would be willing to look in his phone book to see if Francesca Saglimbene was listed (for the young people out there, there used to be a giant book distributed by the phone company with everyone’s phone numbers and addresses listed in it!). If there was a number listed, I asked him to please call Francesca, tell her that a long-lost relative from America would be in Milan on the afternoon of October 22nd, for that one evening only, at the Holiday Inn Milano, and if she would like to meet me, would she please meet us at the hotel. I remember saying something like “I know this is really crazy but please would you help me meet my family?” To my amazement, I think the day before I left, Mauro responded to my message and said he would try.
I left on October 6th, and after 17 long days of travel in planes, trains and automobiles (literally!) we arrived in Milan on October 22nd. Upon checking in at the hotel, I found there was a message from Francesca waiting for me. They would come to the hotel that very night to meet me!
At the specified time, my Aunt and I went down to the lobby and there I met Francesca, her son Giuseppe, and his daughter, Barbara for the first time. As far as I am aware, this is the only picture from that first meeting. Unfortunately, it got damaged at some point over the years, but I still love it.
Francesca and my grandmother were first cousins; their mothers were sisters. It was the first time our two branches of the family had been in the same room and seen each other in almost 100 years. One of the things I remember so much about that meeting is how much Francesca was just like my grandmother, whose name on her birth certificate was also Francesca although she went by Eleanor for all of her life. They had the same stature, they carried their purse the same way, they laughed the same way and Francesca fidgeted with her hands the same way my grandmother did. My Aunt noticed all these things too. No amount of time and distance can change genetics!
That experience, along with my continued joy in researching my own family, led me to start researching for other people with Italian heritage, a “job” which I have been doing now for 26 years as of this post. I’ve been recognized as an Italian Citizen by blood as has my daughter, whose name is Francesca. And I’ve just recently founded, along with two friends, an official lodge of the Order Sons & Daughters of Italy in America where I live. My heritage is incredibly important to me.
My husband and I returned to Milan in 2000 and spent more time with Francesca, Giuseppe and Barbara (see My Trip to Italy and Sicily.) Over the years and thanks to technological advances, we have kept in touch through letters, Facebook, FaceTime, email and text, and several visits, including in March of this year.
My grandmother and Francesca have passed on now. I will forever be grateful for my grandmother, who shared what she knew about her family history with me, and for Francesca, who answered a phone call and then met a complete stranger from the other side of the world, without hesitation. We each did our part and brought our family back together.
