![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mallorys_camera
The Ur-DiLucchio is Emidio Daniel DiLucchio, born 1866 in a mountainous region of Italy called Basilicata, sandwiched between Campania in the north and Calabria in the south. Basilicata’s what you might call the sole of the boot, a part of Italy from which massive numbers of people escaped so that today it is possibly the most under-populated part of Italy, a nation famous for its declining birth rate. This is understandable – the landscape is mountainous, bleak and entirely unsuitable for agriculture which, of course, is its main industry. One of its few points of interest is a perfectly preserved Stone Age troglodyte settlement.
The Ellis Island Foundation has no record of Emidio’s arrival in the new world. We do know, however, that he died in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1945, that somewhere along the way he married Filomena Chicella or Chiocellio and that they had a lot of children. I want to say twelve.
Now, the curious thing about Emidio and Filomena DiLucchio’s children is that despite the enduring nature of their patriarch’s marriage, they all coupled and married numerous times, abandoning offspring left and right. (I like to refer to it as the Genetic Detachment Syndrome.) One of their sons was Daniel, my grandfather, who sired my father, Edmond Rocco, upon Jean DeSantis in the year 1931. Shortly thereafter he vanished from Pittsburgh.
He may have made a stop in rural upstate New York. At any rate a second son, Lawrence, lived and died there. He is the father of Desiree DiLucchio, pictured with me above. There’s a lot of evidence pointing to the possibility that he was killed in a mob hit – I won’t go into that here.
Desiree contacted me on Facebook when she saw we had the same last name: “DiLucchio’s not a common name. Is it your birth name? If so we must be related.” We fit the puzzle pieces together and lo and behold! We’re half cousins. One of the great things about Facebook is that it’s just teeming with DiLucchio’s and since, as I noted, the DiLucchio’s were like the proverbial cuckoo who populates the sparrow’s nest, we all have this mysterious, unexamined kinship with one another. A lot of potential kidney donors!
Anyway, Desiree and I had lunch together yesterday and she was quite the joy to meet. Interesting – there are two looks among my father’s own tribe of abandoned children: there’s the long, lean, high cheekboned, amazingly gorgeous look that mostly evinces itself among the men (though I have a bit of it, and so did my half-sister Denine before she became a meth-head) and then there’s a shorter, rounder look like my half-sister Jeanna. Desiree looks like Jeanna.
She knew my father Ted a little bit when he lived in Palo Alto, and liked him a lot more than I did. Her first words to me: “My goodness! You look just like your father!”
Anyway, after hanging out with someone who had a really good haircut, I’ve decided my own mood would improve if I got one too so that is on the list for later this week.
I’ve been completely white since my early forties, and only started dying my hair when one too many people nodded at Robin and asked, “Is that your grandson?” I let it grow out as long as it is now because I was thinking of letting it go au naturel again. But fuck that shit too.
In other news, I’ve been merrily divesting myself of crap through the local Freecycle group. Who knew that 37 people would actually want my copy of Drawing For the Terrified? I’m still spending many hours each day in tears but somehow am motivating myself to do practical shit too. I see by the stock market that the Recession is now officially over – c’mon? How could Citigroup not post a profit? The Feds gave them all this money and they’re not lending any of it out! Meanwhile there was a truly horrifying story on the news last night about the tent city just outside Sacramento. They interviewed some of the residents and the terrifying thing was that these residents had big vocabularies, were obviously college educated.
Scary times, my friends. Scary times.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
facebook
Date: 2009-03-11 12:39 pm (UTC)I love the picture.
Re: facebook
Date: 2009-03-11 04:48 pm (UTC)Re: facebook
Date: 2009-03-11 09:54 pm (UTC)Re: facebook
Date: 2009-03-11 10:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-12 04:02 pm (UTC)I'm sorry that you've been suffering so. Funny how taking care of yourself with a new haircut can mean so much! It's true. Sometimes there's nothing quite as satisfying as just buying a new pair of shoes and socks. Anyway, it will get better.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-12 04:08 pm (UTC)I've been amusing myself all morning imagining Madoff sharing a cell with Michael Vicks.
Lawrence DiLucchio, son of Emedio sired many
Date: 2009-03-27 04:57 am (UTC)Lawrence Anthony jr 1947
Julio Jo 1950's
Larry Jr is still alive and touched base with jeanna in new mexico!
Re: Lawrence DiLucchio, son of Emedio sired many
Date: 2009-03-27 12:15 pm (UTC)Larry Sr.
Date: 2009-03-27 05:04 am (UTC)He was a ladies man and took it where he could get it. A letter I have from his sister describes all of Emedio's son born in pittsburg that way. Only exception may be joe.
LAD NC
Re: Larry Sr.
Date: 2009-03-27 12:20 pm (UTC)Re: Larry Sr.
Date: 2009-03-27 12:28 pm (UTC)Re: Larry Sr.
Date: 2009-03-27 03:06 pm (UTC)Divorced their mother in '04 after doing my best to provide all with a home - unlike men of the previous generation in this family. Have never heard of the half sister you mention, before here. Have to wonder where she came from! Crazy family. BTW, I seem to recall a steamship manifest with Emedio's name on it that I found through Ellis Island website. Just another thread back to Rionero-Basilicata.
Also believe brother Robert who last resided in SC kept his family together too. His daughters have families there.
Re: Larry Sr.
Date: 2009-03-27 03:12 pm (UTC)Desiree may be your half-sister. Definitely the daughter of Larry!
Re: Larry Sr.
Date: 2009-03-27 03:18 pm (UTC)According to Joe's wife Helen, Larry Sr. was an oddball in another way: he chose to abandon the traditional Italian pronunciation of the surname, favoring instead "die-lou-she-oh". Helen still ribs me about that.
She has a second daughter Laura, who is both an author and a professor. Both girls care for their Mom.
Re: Larry Sr.
Date: 2009-03-27 03:21 pm (UTC)Di_luke-ee-oh.
Jeanna pronounces it:
Dilooch--ee--oh.
Re: Larry Sr.
Date: 2009-03-28 03:35 am (UTC)She is the daughter of my older half brother Robert Lawrence DiLucchio, aka Bobby. Called Aunt Helen afterwards and confirmed it was John and Russell who lived in South Carolina, so they and Joe were good as far as being there for their families. Soon as I find a photo of all the DiLucchio men that were sons of Emedio and Filomina, I will send it to you both.
As we listed to eachother it became apparrent that to survive, each ofd us had to learn how to raise ourselves. Where much is given, much is demanded, perhaps.
As I was looking around the web, I came upon a listing on and Ancestry site that lists Filomina on a passenger listing for and inbound liner to Ellis Island.
Good luck. Send me a current Email when you get one. Shared the conversation with Pearl as well, so you can keep in touch with her if you wish, as well.
I knew my older brother had children as both girls were written out of their grandfather's will as was I and I was notified when he died. The family tried to find the girls to notify them, but were unsuccessful.Growing up alone, I sure never figured on someday being someone's uncle! Never know where life is going to lead.
Good luck and my best to the family. Larry D
Re: Larry Sr.
Date: 2009-03-28 02:10 pm (UTC)Desiree actually knew my father who kept telling her he was her uncle although he must have known he wasn't. Or maybe he was just too drunk to process -- he was a bad, bad alcoholic.
You and I, then, are cousins and Desiree and I are second cousins. Glad I posted the picture of Desiree -- I thought she looked a bit like Jeanna, the shape of the face, something about the nose... Get her to tell you the story of Bobby's death some time -- sure sounded like a Mob hit to me! But maybe I watch too much Sopranos. :-)
no subject
Date: 2009-03-28 02:15 pm (UTC)The oddest thing? I was born on my father's birthday. Plus I'm supposed to be a dead ringer for him. Desiree's first words to me were, "My God! You look just like Ted!"
It totally screwed me up growing up without a father. Didn't help any that my mother was a borderline personality. Ah, well.
And actually in the case of my father, I was much better off without him. I don't know how much Jeanna has told you, or how much I can even believe what Jeanna has told me, but one thing is clear: it was worse growing up with Ted than growing up without him.