T Stands For Cousins

Two weeks ago, I blogged how I had made contact with a cousin on my maternal grandmother's side. We've been sharing information and in an e-mail, and he included one of his daughters as she's been doing some genealogy and made a trip to Italy a couple of years ago.

Color me giddy blue when the daughter contacted me to say she was in the area and could we meet. She was going to be on her way back to New York so I asked if she wanted to come to the house as she would practically be driving by the house. Well, just 10 minutes off the Mass. Pike on her way home.

She said she would be happy to stop by for coffee and... I had coffee pods, baked some of Ma's cookies (gluten and sugar-free). The cookie was  flavored with vanilla and lemon for the frosting.  The cookies looked like Easter chicks. Being Italian, I couldn't stop there so I made a cheese pizza. One side with gravy (sauce) and cheese and the other side with a bit of olive oil and cheese as the Young One has problems with tomato. Himself made a salad.

We compared notes on our share ancestor, her great-great grandmother and my grandmother are first cousin. Her father had written information on his grandmother's children and their children. So I was able to add to my family tree.

My young cousin told me she had taken a trip to Italy to Ariano Irpino (formerly Ariano Puglia) where her 2nd great-grandmother and my grandmother were born.  She had gone looking for records to apply for Italian citizenship. She told me Italy allows citizenship if you have an Italian ancestor. Italy recognizes jure sanguinis or citizenship by blood. There are all sorts of hoops to jump through and necessary documents.  While in Ariano, a tiny town, she was at the town hall for records and casually asked if there were any residents with her last name. She was given directions and told to go see this man, A. And the clerk even wrote her a letter of introduction so A wouldn't think she was an axe murderer.

As it turned out, A was actually related to her father's side of the family. He invited her into his home. I think she said he was an artist and painted. On the wall he had a picture of family members and she said one of them looked exactly like her brother.

We enjoyed good food, company, stories, and pictures. She has a sister who lives in Massachusetts, she said she visits frequently, and I told her she was welcome to stop by any time. I was so excited by her visit, I forgot to take pictures of the table set with food and our beverages (tea for me and ginger ale for her) until she had left, and I was cleaning up.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.