The French Connection

Today is my parents’ 57 wedding anniversary and I am going to take this opportunity to inform my dad WHO exactly he married. I mean, he THINKS he married this cute Italian girl 57 years ago, but there is more to the story …

Of course, my mother IS Italian. She was born just outside of Verona. Her parents, sisters, grandparents, cousins, and friends are all Italian, and although she married an American and became an American citizen, she is fiercely proud of her Italian heritage. My mother is very close to her family and we traveled to Italy often (even living there for two years). She was an Italian translator during the Atlanta Olympics, she taught Italian at Augusta College and Aiken Technical College, and she passed on her love of all things Italian to all of us. It is my inherited Italian genes that inspired me to start my blog, organize three Girls’ Trips to Italy, and write a book.

But then …

A few years ago, we gave our mother an Ancestry DNA kit for Christmas. When the results arrived, my mother was horrified (and indignant) to discover she had almost as much French DNA as Italian. I don’t have the actual numbers but she was only slightly more Italian than French.

Oh, the insult! How could this be?

We had a good laugh but also reminded her that she did, in fact, have a French connection.

You see, in my mother’s family it is common knowledge that Napoleon Bonaparte himself spent the night in the very home in which my mother was born. In gratitude for their hospitality, Napoleon gifted the family a crystal tumbler with his profile etched on one side (a family heirloom that currently resides in my parents’ dining room.) This event of Napoleon’s visit was so significant that when the house, still owned by my mother’s family, was eventually converted to a bar and a bank, both were named Napoleon. A large painting of Napoleon Bonaparte, which used to hang in the bank, is currently leaning against a wall in my aunt’s attic.

(Incidentally, a plaque outside the home designates it as being on the historic register. The plaque reads: "Napoleon stayed here on the eve of the Battle of Arcole, 10 November 1796.)

So after all that family history, we found out the French connection also comes with bloodlines (maybe not Napoleonic, but still). Of course, this affects me and my siblings; after all, we have discovered an entirely different (and previously unknown) side to our heritage.

And it got me thinking: do I need to plan a Girls’ Trip to FRANCE?

Ooh La La …

In the meantime, my dad now knows that he didn’t just marry a cute Italian girl 57 years ago. He also married a cute French one.

So I will end by wishing my mom and dad a special day in THREE languages (just to cover all bases).

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Felice anniversario!

and …

Joyeaux anniversaire!