HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS...

No, this photo isn't from this past Christmas season, but it is a good place to start off with an interesting anecdote...  You see, here we have five generations of my mother's side of the family: yours truly as a baby, my mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother!  Funnily enough, before heading home this xmas, through the magic of Facebook we discovered we had some long-lost relatives in South America (descendants of my great-great-grandmother's brother, who, instead of leaving Italy for the States, emigrated to Argentina, as many Italians did at the time).  They in turn told us more about the family back in Italy, with whom they've kept in contact, and were also able to give the exact details about when my great-great-grandmother arrived in New York as a teenager, and even where she first lived--yup, you guessed it: Little Italy!  And not just any ol' Littly Italy...right on Mulberry St. (140 to be exact, as per the next photo!)

So this was a time to spend with family...thankfully Mom is doing well; the surgery went smoothly and chemo is underway, and everything points to a full recovery.  She and Dad were happy to have us there, and we even surprised them by keeping Luz's arrival a secret (we told my mom that she couldn't take off from work, but then surprised her when I got there and told her I found a "stray" at the airport  ;)

All in all a wonderful visit--here's to a bright 2012 for everyone!  More pics below:

https://picasaweb.google.com/106866973565951157311/NY2011Xmas?authkey=Gv1sRgCMzh8tuchanH1gE