Dad was born in Naples Italy in 55, came here in 68. His mother was borna and raised there (Rasi) Dont know much about that side of the family at all. Mom was born in Bayamon P.R. in 55 as well (Otero). Her dad was born in Spain (Nieves) and Mom in PR. There's some French (Di'Clet) in there too. According to my Aunt (dads sister) who did a DNA test....we have some Egyptian in there too. Im on the fence of a DNA test....not sure who has the most accurate or if its all nonsense. 

My great grandparents escaped the Russian Revolution with my infant grandmother in tow. For years we would hear the stories around the dinner table at family gatherings, mostly told by my great uncle Peter. The family begged him to write the family history, but each time he declined.

 

When he passed away, at the wake his wife came out with a huge, hand bound volume. The first page of the tome, all written in Russian, said, "No man should tell his story before his time."

 

A few of my favorite stories from the book:

 

1. My great grandparents opposed the Bolsheviks, and one day two soldiers stormed the house with the intent to kill them. My great grandmother was holding my infant grandmother in her arms when one of the soldiers raised his rifle to shoot her. She uttered an old Russian curse at him and his gun backfired and killed him. The other soldier screamed that she was a witch and ran away.

 

2. The family fled Russia into Europe, got caught up in WWI, and the family got separated into two groups (we had a very large family and still do today).  Both groups eventually made it to Canada, but were still separated. Upon arriving in Canada, one of the groups took out an ad in the newspaper and ran it on a regular basis looking for the rest of the family.

 

Almost 10 years later they finally got a response. After all that time they found out that they were living less than 15 miles apart.

4 minutes ago, Koz said:

My great grandparents escaped the Russian Revolution with my infant grandmother in tow. For years we would hear the stories around the dinner table at family gatherings, mostly told by my great uncle Peter. The family begged him to write the family history, but each time he declined.

 

When he passed away, at the wake his wife came out with a huge, hand bound volume. The first page of the tome, all written in Russian, said, "No man should tell his story before his time."

 

A few of my favorite stories from the book:

 

1. My great grandparents opposed the Bolsheviks, and one day two soldiers stormed the house with the intent to kill them. My great grandmother was holding my infant grandmother in her arms when one of the soldiers raised his rifle to shoot her. She uttered an old Russian curse at him and his gun backfired and killed him. The other soldier screamed that she was a witch and ran away.

 

2. The family fled Russia into Europe, got caught up in WWI, and the family got separated into two groups (we had a very large family and still do today).  Both groups eventually made it to Canada, but were still separated. Upon arriving in Canada, one of the groups took out an ad in the newspaper and ran it on a regular basis looking for the rest of the family.

 

Almost 10 years later they finally got a response. After all that time they found out that they were living less than 15 miles apart.

 

that was a very cool read, nice post.