Take me home, country roads ….. to a place, where I belong.

Take me home, country roads… to a place, where I belong. However, not West Virginia, but a small hilltop town in the Teramo region of Abruzzo, Italy.

For Mary Smith of Sheperdstown, West Virginia, USA, a collection of old crinkled sepia photographs, a few letters and a copy of her grandfather’s passport were the only remnants of a past largely unknown to her and her extensive American-Italian family.

At family gatherings when talk would turn to Nonno Nicola it seemed more questions were created than answered. Why he travelled by ship, from a little town called Tortoreto, Abruzzo all the way to New York City, arriving at Ellis Island in 1913, at the tender age of 16? Who was his travelling companion named on his passport? Who were his siblings? Nicola died in a tragic accident when he was only in his 40′s when some of his children were still too young to think to ask questions about his life in Italy. Everyone would try to glean from their memories different things they recalled hearing older family members saying ….like little puzzle pieces that did not make a whole picture.

During 2009, Mary, her husband Dave and son Eric, started to make plans for a trip of a lifetime to Italy. The Amalfi Coast, Naples, Pompeii and Rome were all on the itinerary, but the town of Tortoreto, held a special fascination for Mary and to visit the place her grandfather had left almost 100 years before, would fulfill a lifelong dream and help bridge a gap between the past and the present. Mary set about finding accommodation in the Teramo region, as she wanted to add a couple of days on to their 2 week vacation to take a trip to the Tortoreto area. An internet search led Mary to a bed & breakfast just outside of Teramo, called La Grande Quercia which she decided was the place they wanted to stay. An email was dispatched in which she explained about the family trip and how Teramo was her grandfather’s birthplace.

So with flights booked, a further email was sent to La Grande Quercia to finalise the arrangements. Mary expressed her excitement of going to the region of her roots and possibly finding the town where Nicola was born and spent his childhood, although Nicola’s handwritten passport she had was barely legible in parts and she wasn’t even sure of the actual town where he was born. Little did she know that Russ & Sergio, the owner’s of “The Big Oak” (as she had fondly come to refer to this bed & breakfast), would take a keen interest in her search for Nicola and they offered to do a little research and asked if they could see a copy of the passport. A copy was hurriedly sent, along with some wonderful photographs, although Mary didn’t have high hopes of finding out much more. Within a few days, “ping” another email from The Big Oak and to Mary’s amazement they said that they’d deciphered his passport, which even gave details of his facial features and whether he had a beard or moustache! He was only 16 for goodness sake, but this was the way of passports in 1913. Russ and Sergio confirmed that Tortoreto (Alta) was indeed his birthplace and that they would visit the comune (local council offices) where they held all the historical records of residents to see what else they could turn up. Further emails were exchanged, providing snippets of information and then Mary heard from Russ & Sergio saying they had actually been to Tortoreto, which was described to Mary as a really beautiful little town, on a hilltop overlooking the Adriatic and a fantastic panorama of the Gran Sasso mountains. It was everything she had imagined and with the trip being only a matter of weeks away, this news made the trip even more enticing, perhaps even overshadowing the excitement of seeing some of the much more well known sights Italy has to offer.

After a wonderful time sightseeing on Italy’s west coast, Mary, Dave & Eric set off from Sorrento on the long drive to Abruzzo. As they left Lazio, the drive through spectacular countryside, surpassed their dreams of what the region of her grandfather would be like. Entering Abruzzo they passed through rolling hillsides filled with olive groves and vineyards, the terrain becoming more rugged each kilometer they drove. Ancient walled villages perched precariously on ragged peaks and then the mountainous Appenino came into view on the horizon. Mary knew that upon entering the Gran Sasso tunnel, it would only be a matter of 10kms before she would be in Nicola’s home region. Arriving at La Grande Quercia was like arriving at the last staging post of a long journey. It was just as she had imagined it would be.

In the weeks leading up to the trip, Russ & Sergio had been in contact with a local man in Tortoreto, who’s hobby was genealogy and totally unbeknown to Mary, he had managed to find out some more information on Nicola. The long awaited morning of the trip to Tortoreto at last arrived. Off they set, following behind Russ & Sergio in their car. The autostrada led them to the coast at Giulianova and Mary could barely contain her excitement as they saw the sign for Tortoreto Lido. Whilst it had been a beautifully sunny morning when they set out, they were now driving in thick fog and the views from Tortoreto of the Gran Sasso and the Adriatic sea that had been described to them, were now going to be obscured by this “pea souper”. The next sign they barely saw through the fog was for Tortoreto Alta. A winding country road, passing a scattering of houses old and new. Could one of these houses be where Nicola lived? Did he walk this road? As they approached Tortoreto, the fog thinned and suddenly the sun appeared through the haze and ahead there was the town, seemingly sitting on the clouds that shrouded everything below. As they drove into the narrow streets, the lovingly restored buildings that had been described felt almost familiar to Mary.

Up some steps, worn smooth with countless footfall over hundreds of years and they walked through a cobbled street leading into the main Piazza. In that instant the church bells rang out, seemingly welcoming a long lost family. Emotions rushed as Mary thought to herself how her grandfather would have listened to those very same bells and she could picture Nicola as a young boy running up and down the same steps and across the cobbles. Nervousness, anticipation, happiness and the hope of finding out more, filled Mary’s heart and her head. A warm welcome awaited Mary at the offices of the Tortoreto comune and the family were introduced to Giuliano, the man who had been helping Russ & Sergio find out more about Nicola. As Sergio translated, Mary could hardly contain herself as she was told about Nicola’s brothers and sisters, of whom she had no idea existed. A hand written family tree was presented, with one branch ending with Nicola which could now be filled with the generations that followed in Amercia. Giuliano returned to the back office and returned clutching some papers. What could these be? Mary took the papers, hand shaking not believing what was she was being given – an official copy of Nicola’s birth record and a copy of the marriage certificate of her great grand parents, Silvestro & Crocetta di Paolo. Giuliano explained that the church that could be seen across the square was in all likelihood where Nicola was baptised and Silvestro & Crocetta married. Whilst not normally open during the week, Giuliano had contacts and he had arranged to have the church opened specially for Mary. She could not believe it. With tears in her eyes, she hugged Giuliano and thanked him for taking so much trouble. The huge doors of the church swung open to reveal an amazingly restored 15th Century interior, with walls adorned with fantastic paintings. The alter lay ahead, bathed in a ray of sunshine. Mary was speechless and could almost feel the presence of her ancestors past, who had been at this very spot. Mary pondered as to why Nicola had left this beautiful place, but with little work and the dream of a better life in the America, he and many millions of other Italians left their small towns and villages to start a new life and new generation. Only now did she realise how frightening it must have been for a 16 year old boy (the same age as her son Eric) to arrive in New York City, unable to speak the language and having no friends or family around for support. He made a new life, married and had children, all of whom have benefited from the sacrifice of leaving his homeland and family.

At the end of the trip Mary felt more complete than she had ever felt before, having made a real connection with the past, feeling a belonging to this small town in the hills of Teramo.

Country roads, take me home, to a place I belong…… Tortoreto Alta.