"Why do you want to become an Italian citizen?"

This...from my dad. From my proud-as-you-can-be of his Italian heritage, dad. But let me start near the beginning.

Mix of people including great grandparents on my grandmother's side (Antonio and Caterina (Tamburini) Pietronave) as well as my grandparents, Charles and Emma

Ignition point

As many of these initial posts will start, the genesis for so much of the Italian citizenship momentum began in the early days of the world-wide COVID shut down. Among the many rabbit holes I went down was one of considering the possibility of gaining Italian citizenship. The thought may have languished in the corners of my mind but for my brother who, unbeknownst to me, was having some parallel considerations of his own. As he was considering his own retirement future, he was pushed down this path via his wife (who was already pursuing her own citizenship journey via her father's Italian birth). So he reached out to an Italian attorney who works in this area. With the most basics of the process, and qualifications on what it would take and how to proceed, he called me with the question..."Do you want in?"

The resistance

I plan to go into the parts of the process in more detail in future posts. But the focus on this post was the surprising resistance put up by my father when we told him we planned on seeing if we would qualify for Italian citizenship. Instead of the pride and support I assumed we'd receive from him, he went full-out in opposition to this news. "Why would you want to live anywhere other than the United States?" And, "My grandparents never looked back after they left Italy." And in most practical ways, he was correct.

As I wound through this process, digging into our ancestry, I was surprised at how much he didn't know about his grandparents and their most direct relations. I suspect that many immigrants have followed this sort of path. Arrive in a foreign country (especially one that is assumed to offer a better life), do everything you can to assimilate into that country, and raise your children to be singularly OF that country so that you can now say you belong. However in the process...you have lost where you came from.

For my father, fear also plays a part in in his resistance. Our parents are aging and the thought that their children would be in some far flung location and not near to them (or that something would happen to us when we were in said location) is, as far as I'm concerned, the primary factor in his reluctance to have us to get our Italian citizenship.

The gift I can give

We are not yet at the end of this process, but with a court date set for February 2024, we can at least see the light at the end of the tunnel. In addition to attempting to verbally calm my father's fears, the one thing I have enjoyed doing is sharing what I have learned about his ancestors via my research (although he claims it keeps him up at night, lol). Informing him that the names he knew as just "friends of the family" were actually aunts, uncles and cousins. Pinpointing the cities/towns of his grandparents birth and all the other surnames that make up the landscape of our ancestry. Or validating the "I think my uncle owned a bar in San Francisco", and finding the newspaper ads that corroborated it.

Do I wish he had more? Do I wish my grandparents (and their parents) had thought beyond "becoming American" and documented their history for future generations? Yes. But you know what? I can start that now. Now my children will know more of their Italian ancestry. And while, like doing a puzzle, it may contain more missing pieces than I'd like, they can still look at it and see the picture. It is the gift I can give while I still can.

My great grandparents, Benedetto and Maria (Bruzzone) Leveroni

So, why do I want my Italian citizenship? Beyond how it may be helpful in other practical areas of spending time in Italy, I want it because it is part of my history and part of who I am. It connects me to my father, and his parents, and their parents, and so on and so forth. In some ways I see it as closing the circle to the promise of leaving for a better life.

To my ancestors...you did good...and now, I'm bringing you back home.

For those of you that went (or are now going through) the same process...have you experienced any of this same resistance? Drop me a line and tell me about it, and sign up to get more of my posts.