Category Archives: Family History

Smoke and Mirrors

Posted on December 11, 2017 by cynthia

The Thomas Fire is raging to the south of us with no end in sight. The air is filled with smoke and ash, and we have friends who have been evacuated. These are anxious times. But until I have some … Continue reading →

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I Have Seen A Manatee

Posted on November 23, 2017 by cynthia

I wrote this several years ago, but I’ve decided to share it here on this Thanksgiving. It is the day after Thanksgiving and we have gathered on a wooden pier at the Indian River near Palm Bay Florida in the … Continue reading →

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There Was No Map

Posted on November 22, 2017 by cynthia

He was my brother, and the country of childhood was a tangled one, fraught with discord and shadowed by mystery. Dangers loomed, whether real or imagined, and tranquil moments could not entirely be trusted, for they were as delicate as … Continue reading →

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Filomena

Posted on November 10, 2017 by cynthia

In the course of doing research about our family history, my brother recently managed to locate some relatives who sent him the above photograph of our great-grandmother. Her maiden name was Filomena Rossi. She was born in Italy, and came … Continue reading →

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Gnomes and Ghosts and Other Things

Posted on June 7, 2017 by cynthia

We went on a road trip with our friends Kit and Beverly and spent two nights in a pair of Airstream trailers. The one Monte and I stayed in was like a tin can, its interior metal walls left mostly bare except for … Continue reading →

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Confession

Posted on March 29, 2017 by cynthia

This morning, for no particular reason, I suddenly thought about a weird incongruous memory from my childhood, something that happened more than sixty years ago. Isn’t it funny how random images appear in our heads, completely unconnected to the narrative in … Continue reading →

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Chicago

Posted on November 3, 2016 by cynthia

It feels so odd to say it now, but I once lived in Chicago. I moved there in 1971 to be with the medical student who was my first husband, and although I left repeatedly, it was something of a home … Continue reading →

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On Labor Day

Posted on September 5, 2016 by cynthia

My father aspired to be a doctor. I still have in my possession a letter from St. Francis College outlining the requirements for a pre-med course of study, sent in response to his hopeful inquiry. The 1920s were drawing to … Continue reading →

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Shoes

Posted on May 13, 2016 by cynthia

Shortly after the end of World War II, one of my grandfather’s brothers sent a letter to him describing impoverished conditions in Southern Italy and asking if my grandfather would send a decent pair of shoes for his daughter Rosaria. My grandfather had … Continue reading →

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The Moment by PFC S.W. Carbone

Posted on January 24, 2016 by cynthia

Out of it all—came this moment for the soldier. The moment that in a sense was silly and yet sublime. That made him want to giggle but also to expostulate, this delicately balanced instant between the birth of a hysterical … Continue reading →

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