Family Ties

The weather here reminds me a lot of Virginia during the winter… it can’t make up its mind.. cold.. tease of warm… wind, snow, ice… that tease again and so on. But it’s now just a few days away from Easter, and we’re officially into Primavera (Spring). A front out of Africa is bringing us summer weather for a few days, and then some solid spring weather is forecasted. I’m a happy camper.

Apart from the winter weather, and with it lots of wind, I’ve noticed the colors in town are dark. Everyone is wearing black or dark colors and the town seems somber and chilly. I’m hoping with spring, colors will liven up as folks’ spirits come out of hibernation or maybe it’s Lent that’s being reflected in the somber colors. A change is on the way……the piazza will be filled with sounds of children playing and folks will be seen relaxing in front of the bars and the gelateria.

There is also big change coming for us, as we have signed a contract on a house. We are truly going to do it; become a part of a community, fix up a house into a home, plant olive trees, meet new folks and prayerfully make new and lasting friends. It will be sad to part from our friends around Atri, but we’re not that far away and there will be opportunities to visit.

Views from some of the houses we turned down and possibly from the one we didn’t 😉

The process to close on a house in Italy is a bit more complex than the United States. Well, maybe John and I are just use to the process in the States and that’s why it seems complex here? It is more expensive to close as more fees are involved for the buyer, such as paying 1/2 of the commission to the broker. My daughter says it’s the same in Chile. There are also some various taxes, registrations fees and the notary’s fees for all the document checks and closing. Here is one of many links explaining the process. And there is the fact that the US dollar is weak right now against the euro and I’m waiting to transfer to our Italian bank, hoping for a better conversion rate.

John and I laugh about the location of the house. We had talked about moving to Italy to find a small house in the warm hills between the sea and the mountains. Well, best laid plans get changed and we’re rolling with it. The town is located in southwestern part of Abruzzo, about 40 minutes from San Salvo, where my mom’s family is from. I definitely plan to do some research to locate any relatives in the area. The house is in the mountains but very similar in elevation to where we lived in Nelson County, VA. The views are expansive over fields, olive groves and up to the higher elevations. As the paperwork progresses, I’ll give you more information, and eventually before and after pictures with the work we will do. The house is in great condition, but in serious need of updating the cosmetics. House right now is 1970/80s Italian…. heavy on the colors and heavy on dark wood finish.

We plan to take possession mid-June. As our lease on the farmhouse goes to the end of September, we’ll have plenty of time to get the new house ready for us and the dogs. And I am sure the projects will continue for a few years at least. lol

Prior to us even looking at homes close to my mom’s family town, I got started on putting together our family tree. Not something I was ever very interested in doing until recently. I’m using both Ancestry.com (and Ancestry.it) and FamilySearch.org. This is what I have come up with so far.

When I applied for my dual citizenship a few years ago, I started finding out a little bit more about my relatives. Biggest surprise was finding out that my Grandpa Carlo (mom’s dad) didn’t come over on the boat by himself at 13 yo, but rather with his mom and dad and sister! I didn’t even know he had a sister. Mom told me the story about his brave solo crossing and I bought it for years. Silly me. Now I also have found out that my Grandpa had not only a sister, but two older brothers… The plot just gets better and better. A sad discovery was made yesterday in regards to Vitalina, Carlo’s sister. She died at the young age of 24 from the Spanish Influenza in 1918. She was living in the Philadelphia area at that time.

So I’m digging away with the goal of finding out if my grandfather had family that stayed behind in Italy. I recently contacted someone on Facebook with the last name of De Felice from Abruzzo. He was very kind in his replies and said if we are of the De Felice family of Abruzzo, we are all related! So I’m getting tingly toes in the pursuit of family. I am very excited! Here are some pics from my mom’s side, which she handed down to me. I hope to research dad’s side someday soon and I have loads of pics of his family.

Enjoy and ciao for now…