May 21 Lunch and Second Home Visit

As we were leaving the Grecos, Emilio told us about his father who had worked on the railroad in Detroit.  Evidently he came back to Mendicino once a year and then another child was conceived. In his front yard on a tree was hanging a pickaxe that his dad brought home from his working on the railroad.  Sadly, no photo.  History was unfolding before our eyes faster than our minds could keep up .

It was now about 2:30 or 3 p.m. so we went to lunch at the one place Domenico had found which would be open in the afternoon and had arranged for us to eat at.  (Our meal was part of our heritage day tour!)  This was a lovely meal and time to decompress over what we just experienced.  We love Domenico.  He is smart and savvy and helpful and speaks good English!

Each of us got one of these appetizer plates!! We had another course but we can't remember what it was; food coma. 

Restaurant front; we ate outside

Amaro is served after the meal (yes, liquor!)

After we were fed and comforted by the food, we took off to the terredonniche, which is now just a street, but was once more like a district.   My great great grandfather Raffaele Reda was probably a land manager for a land baron.  He and his family would have lived on the land though they were not the land owners. 

Domenico drove us around for an hour or more in the area where Rosaria and Carolina most likely grew up.  It's not really inhabited now but some of the structures are still there.

Domenico had found the daughter of a Eugene Reda (99 years old) who was happy to meet and to talk with us.  Her name is Anna and she is my age.  Eugene's father's name is Raffaele Reda, which is the same name as Carolina and Rosaria's father.    They also had the name Rosaria in their family tree, plus my dad's middle name was Eugene, so it was worth a try.  But the dates didn't line up and also no one in their family had left to go live in America.  But we had a nice time with her too.  She served us cold tea and shared her life.  She took us in to see her father who is very old and frail and in bed.  I kissed his head, but I don't know if he knew I was there. It was an intimate time.

Broom plant which grows wild in the area

Domenico, Anna, and Laura figuring out genealogy

Patty, Anna, Laura

Pathway to Anna's house

One thing funny that happened before we got there is that Domenico was showing people some of the photos that we sent him, and one of the photos that got in there was of Thelma, dad's mom, who is not from Italy.  But Antonio Rubino's grandmother was sure that Thelma looked just like a person from Mendicino and that she was definitely related to a family still in town.  But that wasn't the case, of course.