Exchanging holiday emails, or sending and receiving cards by snail mail, is a wonderful way to keep in touch. Not only do you receive a greeting in return but very often updates on the lives of those you often think about but do not always have the time to keep in touch with on a more regular basis.
Easter greetings exchanged with our Guest Contributor Antoinette Serrapere brought back a cheerful email filled with good news about what is happening in her life. Here are some of the updates…
Antoinette became a Grandmother for the first time on January 27th when her grandson Ryder Jacob Warren was born to her son and daughter-in-law.
Jamie, Antoinette’s daughter, recently visited her fiancé who lives in England. They are planning to get married in the U.S. in the Spring of 2018.
Antoinette plans to travel to Italy with Jamie and her new son-in-law after the wedding in 2018. There are plans to have a small ceremony and celebration in Italy, too!
We wish Antoinette and her family all the best in all ways for always. Plus we look forward to updates and photos about the wedding and the trip to Italy!
You may learn more about Antoinette Serrapere and her family history by visiting her Guest Contributor page where links to her previous postings are listed.
Uncle Sammy, Aunt Kathie and I were delighted to receive the news on February 1, 2017 that Katy and Michael Lingle become the parents of William Jake Lingle.
I attended Katy and Michael’s wedding last June in Baltimore. It was a memorable affair and I look forward to a memorable meeting with them again when they introduce me to Jake.
I wish the Lingle family good health, prosperity, harmony and happiness in all ways and for always.
“Gathering of Auspicious Signs” by Giuseppe Castiglione. Painted in 1723. Public Domain.
I have one very vivid memory that recurs each year around the time of my Mom’s birthday on April 18th. No matter what the weather was like or what was going on in our lives Mom said a birthday is a time to celebrate. Each day is a gift no matter what we find in the box we open each morning. We each have a role to play and bring our own unique gifts to the setting in which we participate. Mom also held that each day is a re-birth because at the end of the day we should leave off the exhaustion, the gains and the losses and put them behind us. Sleep was a renewing process. All that happened the day before could be recycled and of use in the present or the future. We just need to get on with the day ahead and not dwell too much on the past. Answers will come in the course of time.
To illustrate this point Mom once told me that the newly found realizations are akin to Spring. From within will blossom the knowledge we need if we just quiet the ramblings of the conscious mind and spend some time in a sweet solitude where we gather ourselves together. “In springtime, the world is born anew!” Mom always said when it was her birthday. She used that as a way to encourage me in the practice of seeking time out and spending it in quiet reflection.
Each year Uncle Sammy and I take a Spring break. It is a time to rest, to socialize during the Easter holidays, visit the resting place of Josie and Sam and pray for those we are with in spirit but cannot make the visit to, whether at home or at their resting places. We hope everyone is awakening after a very long winter and taking time to attune themselves to the cycle of renewal and rebirth going on in nature right now. May it also happen for all of you, too.
To add an element of learning to this posting we have showcased a painting by Giuseppe Castiglione. He was a Jesuit missionary who became a painter in the court of the Chinese Emperor during the 18th century. We have also learned that Giuseppe Vivaldi, composer of “The Four Seasons”, wrote sonnets to accompany each of his concertos. We present here Vivaldi’s sonnet to Spring in Italian and English which come from the website BaroqueMusic.org Acknowledgements and links follow the sonnets.
We will return to WordPress in mid-May.
–EmilyAnn Frances May
–Sam Serrapede, Jr.
–April 9, 2017
Spring – Concerto in E Major by Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) Allegro
Springtime is upon us.
The birds celebrate her return with festive song,
and murmuring streams are softly caressed by the breezes.
Thunderstorms, those heralds of Spring, roar, casting their dark mantle over heaven,
Then they die away to silence, and the birds take up their charming songs once more.
Largo
On the flower-strewn meadow, with leafy branches rustling overhead, the goat-herd sleeps, his faithful dog beside him.
Allegro
Led by the festive sound of rustic bagpipes, nymphs and shepherds lightly dance beneath the brilliant canopy of spring.
Spring – Concerto in E Major by Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) Allegro
“Giunt’ è la Primavera e festosetti
La Salutan gl’ Augei con lieto canto,
E i fonti allo Spirar de’ Zeffiretti
Con dolce mormorio Scorrono intanto:
Vengon’ coprendo l’ aer di nero amanto
E Lampi, e tuoni ad annuntiarla eletti
Indi tacendo questi, gl’ Augelletti;
Tornan’ di nuovo al lor canoro incanto:”
Largo
“E quindi sul fiorito ameno prato
Al caro mormorio di fronde e piante
Dorme ‘l Caprar col fido can’ à lato.”
Allegro
“Di pastoral Zampogna al suon festante
Danzan Ninfe e Pastor nel tetto amato
Di primavera all’ apparir brillante.”
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“Gathering of Auspicious Signs” by Giuseppe Castiglione
Giuseppe’s Chinese name: Lang Shi’ning
Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons. http://tinyurl.com/m9g54j4
Genealogist Anthony Vermandois has researched families of the Campania region in Italy. We have used the charts of descent for several families in Agropoli who appear in Parts 1-3 of the posting 46c-D’Agosto and Carnicelli Families in America: Family and Work. To view the source information for these families, please click on a surname below. A new browser window will open and navigate to the page for that family.
Uncle Sammy grew up on 65th Street between 12th and 13th Avenues during the 1940s and 1950s. As we reviewed records for his Uncle Giuseppe D’Agosto we discovered a connection to members of the Carnicelli family who immigrated to America and settled in Dyker Heights and lived on 65th Street. Uncle Sammy asked me to find out if the Julia Carnicelli he remembers from his childhood was related to Giuseppe D’Agosto.
At last, we find Julia
The search for Julia Carnicelli first led us to learn about her brother-in-law Joseph Carnicelli who was featured in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.
At ImaginesMaiorum, we found Julia entered as Giulia Romaniello, wife of Antonio Carnicelli. Antonio was Joseph’s younger brother. After his arrival in America he was known as Anthony. Anthony was born in Agropoli on January 22 1907. He immigrated to the United States in 1930 and became a citizen after that.
“Gathering of Auspicious Signs” by Giuseppe Castiglione. Painted in 1723.
Through The Byzantine Gate 
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