I don't know if this is the proper place for this post but I thought I'd share with everyone. I'm sure Luca will be pleased, as his efforts put me in touch with my cousin in Italy. The contact was very brief and then it disappeared; however, Ale and I are friends on Facebook where she and I are chatting with more and more frequency. She has voluntarily become my language tutor as I struggle to communicate with her as much as possible in Italian. Fortunately, her English allows me respite when I just can't figure out how to say what I want in Italian--my skills are negligible and my age doesn't make learning any easier I'm glad I decided to give Facebook a try. It might be a worthwhile tool to find and/or communicate with family.

That's wonderful that you're in contact Tom and I too have found facebook a nice way to communicate with people. Keep us posted about your new found family.

A qualcosa è servito!
Visto che ti stai allenando con l'italiano: sono più riusciti a trovare quelle famose lettere che dicevano essere nella vecchia casa in Sicilia?

Ciao
Luca

Hi Tom..

Was wondering how you were doing. I use facebook too and recently I was researching my own family and was able to connect to persons with my surname together that turned out to be cousins. They didn't know about each other so it was very gratifying for me. Unfortunately, neither were related to me but I have met so many wonderful people. We're here if you need us (Oh tell me about the language thing...Thank God Simona and Carole are translating my letters because I get so confused.)

Luca, I found Ale on Facebook quite by accident, but I would love to see those letters in that old house in Belmonte. I'd like to travel to Sicily in a few years and knowing how to read some Italian would be a great help. However, our conversations are short and she is very patient. A conversation is more challenging than translating words; since it is so immediate it will help me to think more in Italian than translating words from one language to another. If I do find those letters or others, they will be shared here.

Nuccia, I drop by several times a day. Coming here is like sitting around listening to family members tell stories and talk about their lives. I only wish we could all sample some of the wine I've made. I'm actually quite good at it so I'm told by those who have had a chance to sample what I've made!