Connecting Simioni families: Italy, USA, & Canada

Rick and I have returned from Veneto, Italy, and we were able to meet more of Rick's cousins: The Fior families, sons and grandsons of Rick's aunt, Maria Amalia Simioni (1886 - 1965 Salvatronda) who married Umberto Fior.

Meeting Fior cousins, sons of Alfredo Fior:
Simone, Mauro, Rick, Alberto
(and twins  of Mauro, Riccardo & Nicolo)

Fabio and Paulo Fior, sons of Ugo Fior, with Rick.
(or is it Paulo and Fabio)
In Salvatronda

While researching and visiting, we again met with Sergio Simioni of Salvatronda. He has gone through some additional church records and says he has discovered his grandfather and Rick's were cousins. We are looking forward to seeing the connection. He also found Onofrio Fior as one of Maria Amalia Simioni's children, who was not listed in the city records. Onofrio was mentioned in a very old letter to Rick's father (1960's) from Maria but we never knew his last name nor how he fit in.

Meanwhile, Vivian Trapani of Ottawa, Canada, followed along with us via Facebook and we were able to help her connect! She may be related to Sergio in Salvatronda also. Later I'll try to show it here somehow. (Or Vivian can). It's possible we are distant relatives too! Well, I guess we ALL are distant relatives!

Maria Amalia named one of her son's after Rick's father.

Rick Simioni (USA) in Cittadella with
Alice Simioni (Vedelago) & her mom Renata Zampieri

I sure wish I knew a way to show our "Family Forest"! We have so many "Family Trees" that are starting to come together...

Simionis of Thiene and Sarcedo

Thiene & Sarcedo Simioni families!

We were thrilled when Francesco Simioni organized a Sunday lunch with his family and his brother Roberto's and asked us to join them all. We finally got to meet Giulia, who was/is working in New York. She was our original Facebook connection to this family but she was out of the country last year when we visited. She and I have been "Friends" for a few years now.

Alessandro, Diego, Gloria, Yasmine. Ugo, Vitti. Simionis all. Plus spouses and significant others. And 8 little ones! We feasted on a long, delicious lunch at Agriturismo da Marinela. Elisa and Diego were more available to chat this time (they were the bride & groom last year) but, none of us spoke enough of each others' language to carry on a conversation! Elisa and I chat online often, using translators, and we had to laugh that we could not chat in person! We did share hugs and I was able to meet their baby girl, our newest Simioni!

.
We have not found a bloodline connection to these families either, but again, our hearts have been joined! There are two new babies since last year as the Simioni tree grows new branches.  We discussed the "need" to organize a Simioni del Mondo worldwide festa some day in northern Italy.

Brothers Francesco and Roberto Simioni and their families.

Our newest "Simioni del Mondo"!

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All of these families have taken time to show us around their cities and lives. What a treat for Rick and I to experience Italy this way. The REAL Italy -- the many "real" Italies.  We enjoy the people and their hospitality. The Italians are friendly people to begin with...then when they find you have Italian heritage you become almost family! And when you have the same last name, well, you ARE family!




We were unable to connect with any Simionis in Cittadella this trip. Even with almost 3 weeks in Veneto.  I guess we need to stay longer!  :)

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Simionis in Veneto!

We have such a nice time with our Veneto Simioni families!

 - - - 

Rick and I visited Castelfranco Veneto Comune offices again, and did get more information on his grandparents (birthdates) which will take us another branch up the Simioni family tree. I sure would like to find we are related to these wonderful Simionis!  

We DID find information on Rick's two aunts who remained in Italy and did not move to the USA when all the other brothers and sisters did. They both married men named Fior.  Maria named two of her son's Desiderio and Fortunato! (after Rick's father and uncle; her brothers) One son is still alive and living in Salvatronda, near where Rick's father lived. Had we located them last year we could have met another uncle who passed away in 2010.

With the help of Alice and her father Emanuele Simioni, we made a visit to Alfredo Fior, 87 years old. Without their assistance this would have been difficult, if not impossible, as Alfredo was hard of hearing and spoke dialetto! 


Meeting him was emotional for us. After years of searching, he is our first relative. He has sons and grandsons, and since we did not have any family history with us at that time, we are going to follow-up with a letter and photos when we return to the USA.

Rick meets his cousin Alfredo Fior

City records show Rick's other aunt apparently moved to Como, and we plan to contact that Comune office in the future to see whom we can find. This is all quite like a giant puzzle, with many missing pieces!

 Having fun with Veneto Simionis:

 Alice, Emanuele, Gianluca, Rick, Renata

at the Festa dea Poenta

A wedding we spotted in Castelfranco Veneto

Meeting Mattia Simioni, who was our first Castelfranco Veneto connection on Facebook over 2 years ago. Last year he was working in Greece when we visited.
He is Alice's cousin, and the son of  Germano.
The 3rd Simioni brother/family is Gabriele.

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We also had an afternoon to enjoy with the family of Oscar Simioni from Cartigliano. This time our English/Italian translator, his daughter Silvia, was not available as she is studying in Finland at this time. We managed with the help of her sister Federica, and Rick's improved Italian language skills! (His one year of university studies this past winter and spring did pay off!)

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Simioni of Montreal & Salvatronda

Last year we were Salvatronda (Castelfranco Veneto) to search for Rick's father's family. We had already become Facebook friends with Mattia, Alice, and Elisa Simioni from Castelfranco.

Alice's father volunteered to do some investigating before we arrived and found birth records of Desiderio!

He also found Sergio Simioni, who is from Salvatronda, had a father named Desiderio, and an uncle Fortunato, just as Rick did. We wonder if their fathers were cousins and named after important family members.

Sergio, Priest, Alice (maggio 2010)

Sergio mentioned he has family in Montreal Canada, and mentioned Lisa and Mario. Well, I already knew of Lisa and Mario because of our Facebook group "The Simionis of the World".  We were aware Lisa is in Montreal, and, took special note that Mario played professional hockey, NHL farm club I think, since Rick is a big hockey fan. (Mario is now in Denmark coaching a successful hockey team.)

And it became even more interesting as in Alice's home they have a hockey stick signed by Mario on their basement wall! When I asked Alice if she was related to him she replied no, he was just playing hockey in town one time and when she told him her name was also Simioni he gave her the stick!

Lisa and I exchanged a few emails and she spoke to her parents. Now she writes me that her parents will be in Castelfranco! Her mother Annamaria and I are now corresponding. We arrive late on the 8th of September, they return to Canada on the 10th.  We have planned to meet, with Sergio, on the 9th!

It's a small world after all!

Last year's post: Salvatronda 

30Sept2011: rather than make a new post, I'm going to chat about our Salvatronda 2011 meeting below...

9Sept2011

We met with the Ottawa Simionis! I'll collect my family details/notes and add them here later, but for now, we had a nice time and although we don't think we are related, we still sense there could be a connection because of the "Desiderio/Fortunato/Salvatronda" similarities. I'll be working with Linda when we return. Here's our new photo:

Finding Desiderio - in Salvatronda

We did it! We found records of Rick's father, Desiderio Simioni, in very old local  church ledgers.

Today in Salvatronda (Castelfranco Veneto) Italy, we went to the local church, Santa Maria Assunta di Salvatronda, and found records of Desiderio's  baptism.  They match information from the city hall for his birth.  It was emotional for everyone there as we carefully searched through the ledgers together.  To think Rick's father was baptized here 115 years ago, walked these streets, and maybe tried to imagine his future.  Now we try to imagine his past.

With the help of Alice and her father, Emanuele Simioni, we met Sergio Simioni (above, left. Priest in center) who's father was also a Desiderio Simioni, and who also had a brother Fortunato Simioni, same as Rick's father and uncle. It's possible their grandparents were related.  If so, we are related to the Simionis in Montreal: Lisa and family. We'll be following up when we return.

There are so many things we learned, like family nicknames (because there are so many Simionis here).  Rick's family is part of the Cecconato branch.  (translates to "born thin".)

Meanwhile, the Simioni families in the Castelfranco area have adopted us!  We been treated to family dinners, shown us around, picked us up when it was pouring rain (Often!!), and just have been fun to meet.  They are family group #12. They even through me a birthday party down one of their basements! And they have family in California near us!  We have not been able to connect with them as direct relatives, wouldn't it have been wild to find out in Italy that the relatives we were searching for were just an hour or two away from our home?*

Mattia Simioni was my first Facebook contact in Castelfranco, and he led me to Alice and her family.  Unfortunately, Mattia was in Greece when we visited.

Mattia's family:

(me, Elisa, Emanuela Zampieri, 

Rick, & Germano)

Below: Lucky Alice, she's the only one in the 3 families who spoke fluent English and Italian!  We kept her busy!  A job that was often repeated on our trip by my other English speaking Facebook Simioni friends!

Here we are with Alice's family: 

Emanuele, (me), Alice, Renata Zampieri, 

Gianluca, and Rick

Brothers Emanuele & Germano Simioni married sisters Renata & Emanuala Zampieri!


Barbara, Silvia, & Jennifer are also Facebook friends and cousins of Mattia & Alice. Silvia was in New Zealand while we visited.

Gabriele, me again, Jennifer, & mom Ilde,

Barbara, & Rick.

Simionis:
Giuseppe Simioni had 5 sons.  
Gabriele, Emanuele, & Germano, plus Mario and Franco.
I need to check to see if it was Mario or Franco who moved to the USA. Olga and Lynda are two of the Simionis in California...  update please!  Alice?  ;)




*Update Summer 2010: Alice Simioni came to California to visit her Simioni relatives and us.  We had a wonderful time showing her around San Diego, sharing classic American movies, food, and customs.  And we met her Simioni relatives who live just an hour north of us.  We plan to do some additional research, and fully expect to find we are related.  Here's a picture of the California Simionis.

 Lynda Greene (Olga's daughter), Olga Simioni, Alice Simioni

 Craig Acerboni (Olga's son) and Rick Simioni 

becoming fast friends/relatives

It was just like meeting Simionis in Italy! Everyone so friendly and fun to meet.

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Giro di Simioni - Cartigliano and Cittadella

Oscar, Annalisa, Silvia,  Federica Simioni: Cartigliano

Now here's a Simioni family we have met before!  Last year they drove down to meet us in Rome!  Time they took us to Venice for lunch and showed us around their hometown of Cartigliano -- although the rain began to fall (and we ended up with 17 days of rain!)  With Silvia as our translator again, we managed an afternoon in Venice and an unbelievable lunch. Silvia and I have been very active Facebook friends for over a year, and we have Skyped with her family so we felt like old friends by this trip!

_________________________

Rick and I have been on our personal "Giro di Simioni" for a week now and it has been fascinating! 

Milan to Thiene to Cartigliano to Castelfranco to Cittadella so far.  I'll update here more later but want to capture some of today's events while my brain still has some details.

With the help of Gabriele Simioni of Castelfranco Veneto, we made a little trip to Cittadella today.  We wanted to see Stradella Simioni and meet Carlo Alberto Simioni.  

Carlo met us for caffe and with our limited knowledge of each others language, we still managed.  Carlo told us some background on the Simioni name and showed us the family history book, which dates back to the 15th century! He also showed us a local phone book as Simioni is the 2nd most popular name in Cittadella!  Rick gets a good laugh when he explains that for the first 55 years of his life he thought he might be the last remaining Simioni in the world!

After posting these photos on Facebook,  Cherie Simioni (Chicago, USA) and Sandra Simioni (Argentnia/FloridaUSA) found out they are related to each other, and Carlo!  ...and now Marco (Paris) also!

Marco Simioni (in Paris) tells me this Simioni history book is the one he has been telling me about.  He and his father have both contributed to it, and his father was working on  a 2nd one when he passed away just a few months ago. So, now I'm waiting to see if Marco is also related to Carlo.  I don't think we are, but we'll see!  Tomorrow we visit Salvatronda to look for records of Rick's father, Desiderio Simioni, son of Giovanni Simioni.  All these Simionis, but so far, no relatives for Rick....

 Rick (California USA) & Gabriele (Castelfranco Italy) Simioni

Nancy, Carlo (Cittadella Italy), Rick

If you expand this photo of the Cittadella map, you'll see Stradella Simioni!

Giro dei Simioni e Italia 2010! Family in Gorla Minore and Belluna, Italy?

We are so excited!  We just booked our long awaited trip to northern Italy to visit Rick's father's hometown of Castelfranco, Veneto! 

All our research for Simioni del Mondo started in effort to find relatives of Desiderio Simioni, Rick's father, born in 1895.  When we started we had never met another Simioni, other than Rick's uncles who are now all deceased.   We had no idea there were so many in Italy, and around the world!  

We plan to spend time in Castelfranco/Salvatronda to go through church records and hopefully re-find Desiderio's sister's family, or any other relatives.  Her name was Amabile Simioni.  Their parents:  Giovanni Simioni and Anna Cecchetto*.  More family details:  simionis.blogspot.com/-usa-california

Today we also connected with cousins in the mid-west USA, in the State of Michigan, where we are from and were told we have Italian cousins in Gorla Minore, north of Milan.  We are trying to get more details, but for now, their names may be: Luigina, Renata, Ricardo, and Cesare Simioni. And, we found we may have cousins in  Belluna, Italy! Unfortunately, we don't have enough information to confirm.

If we don't find them it will still be fun. We have many Simionis to see -- We have met (online) many nice and fun Simionis! It will still be an awesome experience for Rick to walk the streets of his father.

Thanks also to our new Castelfranco Facebook friends who are already helping us in our records search.  Thanks Signor Emanuele Simioni!  <3  also known as: "Alice Simioni's Dad".  

 So many details to work out now!

Ciao and piu tradi!

Rick's father, Desiderio Simioni circa 1960's

*new spelling from Castelfranco records:
  Anna Cecchetto
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Benvenuto Castelfranco Simionis! Barbara, Silvia, Jennifer & Gabriele. And Alice too!

Ciao and Benvenuto to the latest Simioni family I've met via Facebook. Piacere! 
I look forward to sharing a pizza with you in May!

If I have this correct, sisters Jennifer, Barbara, and Silvia, are daughters of Gabriele, and from San Marco di Resana which is just 5 km from Castelfranco Veneto.


Then there is Alice, also a cousin of this family, daughter of Emanuel.  Alice and I have been corresponding, and Emanuel is going to help us try to find connections through his priest and church records! Alice, do you have siblings?

They are relatives of Mattia & Elisa, Gabriele being a brother of their father.  So, I'll combine them as part of Simioni Family #12. 

As always, I look forward to learning grandparents, aunts & uncles.   Nonni, zie, e zii --  (I'm practicing my beginners Italian!) 

For selfish reasons I hope to find out more of all Castelfranco area Simioni families as we plan to come to the area in May, and search for relatives of  my husband's father, Desiderio  and his sister & Amablie, and their parents Anna (or Angela), and Giovanni.   Desiderio came to the Canada/USA in 1920's.  His sister Amabile did not, so there may be cugini still in the area!


Once I get some additional grandparent/nonni background I'll add more to this:

 1. Great-grandparents:  (how do you say that in Italian?)

      _________ Simioni, married to ___________.

-- 2. Nonni: ____________ Simioni, married ___________

and they had at least these 3 sons:

---3.  _____________ Simioni, married to _____________

                 4a. Elisa, May 1, 1983

                 4b. Mattia, February 7, 1990

---3. Gabriele Simioni, January 3, 1958, married ____________

                 4a. Silvia, (currently in Australia)

                 4b. Barbara, February 25, 1988

                 4c. Jennifer

---3. Emanuele Simioni, married ____________

                 4a. Alice

Let's add other brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles.

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Simionis All Over the World!

We have now found that there are several hundred Simionis on Facebook alone! So we are bound to find family connections!!! Funny how most of us (outside of Italy) thought there were only a few of us left!

I'm going to have to come up with a way to list members in different countries! Any suggestions?


My personal request is help from anyone in the Castlefranco area to find our family! See our California family posting near the bottom: http://simionis.blogspot.com/2009/02/greetings-from-2-simioni-usa-california.html


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#13 AUSTRALIA Melbourne: Robbie & Natalie

Robbie and Natalie --- here is a space for your family history! and maybe a family photo? new and old!

Even just father, grandfather.... who came from Italy?

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#12 Mattia and Elisa! per voi e la vostra famiglia

Spazio per voi e la vostra famiglia! includa la foto se gradiceste?

I can't wait to learn more about Castlefranco Simionis! That is where my father-in-law, Desiderio, and his family were from!!!

From Elisa 20June09:

My grandfather was called Giuseppe "Bepi" and he has a restaurant in S.Marco di Resana, he has I don't remember how many brothers and sisters, few of them are still alive.

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#16 Natalino! per voi e la vostra famiglia

per voi e la vostra famiglia!

includa la foto se gradiceste? old and new?

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Io abito a Paese in provincia di treviso, esattamente tra castelfranco e treviso

map: veneto
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#13 AUSTRALIA, Melbourne: Robbie Simioni

I have chatted with Robbie Simioni today.
The Australian fires are only 10km from him, but he is fine.
He'll be checking back with me later.

Meanwhile, he tells me his father is from Castlefranco, just like my father-in-law, Desiderio Simioni! We keep getting closer to confirming relations!

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Here's some family history from Robbie today:

my grandfathers name was Natale Simioni and he was born in casterfranco, veneto italy. im not sure what year he was born but if i find out ill let you no. my dads name its Roberto Simioni and he was born there too. my sister, Natalie Simioni, and i are the first generation to be born in australia but we are half maltese becuase mum was born in valetta, malta. if you need anymore information let me no.

Summary:

Generation #1
Natale Simioni, Castelfranco
-- 2. Roberto, Castlefranco
--- 3. Robbie & Natalie, born in Australia

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California to Castlefranco to California! #2, #12

Our personal family heritage search took two giant steps today!

I found out at dinner that one of our cousins, Frank DiMercurio, (from Michigan, but also now here in California) has visited Castlefranco and met Simioni relatives there! His nonna/grandmother was a Simioni sister of my father-in-law, Desiderio.  ...update Feb 14: Frank lost touch with the Castlefranco relatives. Maybe someone looking at the Blog will help us find "our" Simioni relatives???

At the same time, I've "met" Mattia Simioni on Facebook! He is from Castlefranco, Veneto, Italy: the town my husband's father was born in! (or possibly Salvatronda). He says he knows he has some relatives in California!! Update  ...March 2, 2010: Alice Simioni, Mattia's cousin in Italy, showed me photos (on Facebook) of their relatives in Thousand Oaks, California USA.  And her grandfather was born in Salvatronda, same as Rick's may have been. 

We would be so happy to find relatives of Anna (or possibly Angela) and Giovanni Simioni born 1800's (and their children, Desiderio, Gemma, Adele.... see my posting down below.) Grazie!!!

We are getting very close....... the world is feeling smaller every day!

Update 02June2009:
Here is what we found out in the letter dated 1963:

Rick's father, Desiderio, born 1895*, received this letter from his sister Amabile Simioni. She was probably born close to 1900. She writes she is sad to not meet Rick as he is the only male Simioni from their family in the next generation. She mentions Onofrio is the only other male but that it does not look promising for him to have children. We don't know who Onofrio is, nor Angela Simioni, who is also mentioned.

Nancy
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#2 USA, California: Greetings from Nancy & Rick

Hello/Ciao from San Diego, California USA!

This posting is one example of how each family can blog about their current and past history to see who is related! If you can only list your father/mother and grandfather/grandmother, that's at least a start!

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I am Nancy Simioni, married to Rick Simioni. Our son is Julian and we are all on Facebook. We were all born and raised in the Detroit, Michigan, USA, area. We moved to San Diego, California in 2005. San Diego Map

Rick's heritage goes back to Castelfranco, Veneto, Italy. We would love to identify relatives who still live there or near-by.  (update March 2010: possibly Belluna, Italy)

Like most of us outside of Italy, we had no idea there were so many Simionis around the world! We have even found another Rick Simioni! How fun! Note Feb 14: now TWO other Rick Simionis and a Riccardo!

It is not necessary to show every sibling and cousin. What I'd really like for this site is to have everyone trace their family back to the 1800's. which is where I think we will start finding our connections! See if you can find your relatives back that far.

Rick's parents, Desiderio and Ida Simioni are in this photo. (mid 1950's)

Below is some of Rick's family history. I am in the process of finding out more and will add it as I get it. This is not easy! Using color helped me especially when I couldn't get tabs or indenting to work. It will really be something if we can unify all of us! I will help you if you would like.

Generation #1. as far back as we know it so far. We hope one of you in the Castelfranco area will help us find our history!
Speriamo che uno di voi in Castelfranco ci aiuti a trovare la nostra storia!

1. Giovanni Simioni married Anna (or maybe Angela) Cechetto (may be spelled Ciecheta, chicetto or ciecheta) Born in Italy in the mid-1800's, most likely in or near Castlefranco. They had about 8 children. We know of 7: Desiderio, Gemma, Adele, Fortunato, Amabile, and Ceasar, and another brother John or Joseph. All born in or near Castlefranco or Salvatronda and came to the USA in the early 1900's.   
Amabile --  did NOT come to the USA.  We want to find her family near Castelfranco. Possibly a daughter Angela (unknown last name), and a Simioni nephew Onofrio.

Generation #2 (3, 4, 5)
--2. Desiderio, (my husband's father) born 1895, Castelfranco, Veneto, Italy. Immigrated to Canada around 1915, then to Detroit within a few years. Married Ida Gigli. (See photo above.) Their family:
--- 3. Richard Simioni, born 1949, Michigan USA, now California (married to me!)
---- 4. Julian Simioni, born 1986, Michigan USA, now California

--- 3. Annette Simioni G., Michigan USA

---- 4. Three sons: Joey, Jeff, & Gino, USA

--2. Gemma, Born in Castelfranco area, Veneto, Italy, then immigrated to Detroit, Michigan, USA

---3. Arthur

---3. Elenore
--2. Adele, Born in Castelfranco or Salvatronda, Veneto, Italy, (Birth certificate lists Salvatronda), then Detroit, Michigan, USA

--- 3. Olga DiMercurio, Detroit, Michigan USA

---- 4. Frank DiMercurio, Michigan, now California. Visited Castlefranco, Veneto, in 1972, and met family whom I am now trying to re-find!
----- 5. One daughter
---- 4. John DiMercurio, Michigan, now California

----- 5. Three sons

---- 4. Carla DiMercurio, Michigan, USA

---- 4. Lisa DiMercurio, Michigan USA 

--- 3. Dora Blackaby

---- 4. Judi (Blackaby) Jewett, Mark & Diane, Michigan USA

--2. Fortunato, Born in Castelfranco, Veneto, Italy, then Detroit, Michigan, USA. No children.
--2. Ceasar, Born in Castelfranco, Veneto, Italy, then Detroit, Michigan, USA. Children?
--2. Giovanni/John/Joseph, is another brother. We cannot confirm if he came to the USA or Canada. He may have worked in the coal mines of Pennsylvania. Children? He may have returned to Canada from the USA or, returned to Italy.
--2. Amabile, did not come to the USA. Born and lived in Castelfranco. She may have had a daughter Angela.

There is a son of one of them named Onofrio whom we found mentioned in a letter from Amabile written in 1963. We do not know of him so we think he lived in Veneto. Angela was also discussed in the note.

We had a wonderful time a few weeks ago when Cristiane Simioni who is from Brazil, flew from New York to California to meet us! We still don't know if we are related, but hopefully, we'll find out someday! She was so much fun I hope we are cousins!

Nancy Simioni
California, USA