For the longest time, I have wanted to share this photo of "La Bretagne", the ship that my grandfather took when he came to this country for the first time in 1909. Today seems like the appropriate day because something amazing happened!
Today I received an email from a man named Dave whose grandfather also came from Curinga. Dave happened to find this blog because he was visiting my other gluten-free blog! It turns out, our grandfathers were on the same ship. As I read through Dave's letter and I came upon his grandfather's name, I couldn't believe it. I recognized the name. It was Francesco Persano. I knew the name very well because I had studied the ship manifest and all my grandfather's travel companions. I know the names as if they were characters of my favorite novel. If you read one of my earlier posts , A Letter to Curinga, you will find the list of men from Curinga who traveled with my grandfather, Carmelo Orlando. Francesco Persano is the name right above my nonno's on the ship manifest.
This development in my research is yet another example of the fruits of my hard work. My patience has been tested and I have encountered my fair share of dead ends along the way. Nonetheless, I have stayed with this project because I can't imagine abandoning it. It's a part of me now.
Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more on this new development as Dave and I connect by phone to exchange stories about our grandfathers.
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