Thank you dear cousin Rosetta! How we loved her! You are so lucky to carry her name. (Like you, I carry my father’s eldest sister’s name). Pigliasti assa di la Pina Ro’, buon’arma. Love you, Fran

I spoke to Pina Ro’s sons and daughter-in-law today. Padre Vincenzo (her middle son) read the blog and was moved by it! He told me something I didn’t know: Everyone related to Padre Vincenzo from his maternal side of the family (including me), called his mother, La Pina Ro’. Everyone related to Padre Vincenzo from his paternal line called her Pina Rusi. And her father, Papa Vici called her Russidra, which means Little Rose in Sicilian. I have never seen her marriage photo so my cousin explained that when La Pina Ro’ got married, the custom of wearing a white wedding dress was unheard of in Sicilian custom. The bride wore somber colors, like gray for a dress and a black cape over her dress. And in Pina Ro’s day, no one took photos of the bride and groom. It was thought to not be good luck. So newlyweds had their photo taken on the 8th day of their marriage. The photo was called “lu ritratu di ottu iorni” or “the photo of eight days”. If I get a copy of the photo, I will add it to a blog post and talk about the Sicilian weddings back in her day.