The First Page - Followup
Thank you to all my family, friends, and new friends on Facebook who responded to my first post. In addition to some lovely comments, I received the following story and photographs from a very nice gentleman named Claudio:
Il maestro Aitala Concetto insegnava a mio zio nella scuola elementare di Rovigno, quando in un’ occasione mio nonno Francesco ando a scuola per sentire come andava suo figlio (mio zio). Il maestro disse, “non è una cima, ma è tra le cime.”
Il nonno torno a casa a consultare il vocabolario se avesse capito bene.
The teacher, Concetto Aitala, used to teach my uncle in the elementary school of Rovigno, when on one occasion my grandfather Francesco went to school to hear how his son (my uncle) was doing. The teacher said, “He is not the summit, but he is among the peaks.”
Grandfather returned home to consult the dictionary to see if he’d understood correctly.
While I never knew my grandfather, I can imagine this is how he might speak! Then Claudio surprised me again—with photos of the home where my father lived with his parents and brother, Ruggero.
Franco's House in Rovigno
I’m very lucky to be in touch with Konrad Eisenbichler of the University of Toronto, and Rosanna Turcinovich Giuricin, a journalist and author originally from Rovigno. Her aunt also knew the Aitala family. The house pictured above is located within the area Ms. Giuricin’s aunt indicated as the neighborhood in which she and my father lived. So I believe this is very likely the house my father lived in while he wrote this diary!
Thank you, Claudio, for allowing me to share this amusing story and your photos. Grazie!
