Best Wishes from the Future!
Happy Anniversary to the newlyweds! Or in language they would understand, Viva Gli Sposi!. One century ago, these hopeful young people were married in Boston, Massachusetts. They are our Italian grandparents. The date of their marriage was July 20, 1913.
The bride is Giovanna Maria Gallinari, 19, originally from the village of Groppovisdomo in the town of Gropparello in the province of Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. She was born on February 1, 1894, the daughter of Giovanni Gallinari and Rosa Croci. She came to America in 1902 at age 8, and joined her parents who had arrived earlier. She grew up in the North End of Boston, where her father and uncle owned a building. She used the diminutive Giovannina, and later switched to Jennie.
The groom is Catullo Giovanni Mazzaschi, 26, from the village of Mariano in the town of Pellegrino Parmense in the province of Parma, also in Emilia-Romagna. He was born April 8, 1887, the son of Lazzaro Mazzaschi and Maria Curati. After serving in the Alpini division of the Italian army, Catullo left for the US. He arrived at Ellis Island Nov.17, 1909, having purchased a ticket at Genoa and travelled across France by train.
We'd love to toast this couple with the very sincere good wishes humanity reserves for newlyweds - proposing good health and prosperity. We'd like to encourage them to love one another through life's trials, but their future has already happened. Their hopes and dreams are no longer - gone like those of their five children, for all of them have passed away as well. Genealogy is cruel that way – the facts do not describe an ancestor as a person. We are left with a few family stories, and those will not survive another generation. Soon enough, we'll toast the marriage of a great-grandchild of Giovanna and Catullo – and it will be especially sincere.