I'm a third generation Italian American, so I don't have family connections anymore in Sicily. But several years ago my family had the unique experience of being contacted by distant relatives who now live in France.

They wrote us a letter in both French and Italian telling of how their part of the family ended up in France. It was very interesting to hear the story of how the whole family left Sicily all at once, some for America, while others went to first to Tunisia and later to France when things got dangerous in that part of Africa during the 1950's (Algerian war). The meeting also gave the families a chance to update their family trees with all this new information. And of course we were all invited to visit them in Provence.

Another lucky encounter happened when traveling in Sicily and meeting my cousin's family - no relation to me, in the town of Terrasini. You can read about my experience here: http://www.lifeinitaly.com/tourism/sicily/terrasini.asp

Does anyone have a story they would like to tell of their reunion with Italian relatives or their quest to discover their lost family history?

Wishing that I had a reunion story....I still havent found the immediate family either..relatives of them,yes,, strangely. There is no one left that knows..my aunts think they know, but I found out more than they knew, so it's difficult. No one ever, to my knowledge keep in touch with anyone, except to sell all of our land in Italy and divide the money, of course. Now I dont think we have anything left here.:rolleyes:

Alas that is the plight of many of us descendants of Italian immigrants, especially if you are third or fourth generation. It may be that many of the origianal families no longer exist - absorbed through marriage and the death of the old people. With the newer generations having no idea about their relatives that left for America so long ago.

Another aspect that saddens me is the fact that many Italians have no interest in looking up distant relatives. While there are plenty of "cousins" that welcome you with open arms into the family homestead, there are also the ones that are resentful and hold a grudge against the descendants of the immigrants.

About ten years ago a family I know went back to the village outside Palermo where the granfather grew up and were saddened by their reception. Nobody was glad to see them. In fact some were outright rude saying things like: "sure you want to visit now, we don't care. You left seventy years ago to make it rich in America, while we starved here in Sicily."

Of course this leads to the whole "you're not Italian, you're American" attitude some Italians have toward Italian Americans who want to trace their roots. But don't give up, the fun is in the search and finding out where exactly they all went - which gets much more difficult for each successive generation.

Wow, I never really thought about it that way..it's true what you say.
and sad at the same time. If they only knew just how much it meant to us to find them....:)

Well I am glad to say that I have reconnected with my cousins, third generation and it has been the most rewarding experience that you can ever imagine. My aunt who is now 90 yrs old, i am 56 by the way, was always the one that kept in touch with the relitives. She always told me since I was a young boy that I had family in Italy and over the years of growing up and traveling, my curiosity about them continued to grow until I was able to finally make it the trip to Italy with my wife.
We actually made first contact through email that my aunt had given my cousin so he could contact me. What a surprise !!! He is a couple of yrs older than myself and we hit it off like true brothers.
I can truly say, my real Italian family welcomed my wife and I with open arms and could not have done enough, these where absolutly the most welcoming people I have ever met.
They have since traveled to the U.S. and stayed with us, I cannot begin to express the emotion that has been shown on both sides as this family has finally reconnected after all most onehundred years of separation. My only regret is that my father isn't still alive to have lived this fantastic experience.
And we intend to keep the connection alive.
My family is from the North from a small town about an hour from Milan called Valenza.
The one thing that my cousin and I have in common is our mutual interest in the family history which we have been able trace back to the late 1800's and early 1900's when they began to immigrate to America.......
Well, thats all for now.......

ciao
Anthony