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August 20, 2000
It's Sunday, and after mass (which I do not attend),
everybody heads to the cemetery. The cemetery
in Succisa is full of dead Tonellis -- some of
which my husband can identify, some of which he
can't. All of which are certainly related to him
in one way or another.
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(Domenico died
in 1993.)
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Most of the graves feature little portraits
of the deceased. On the left is Domenico.
He's the eldest of Renato's uncles who I mentioned
in a previous card
-- the one whose wife hated the rest of the
family. Here's his wife on the right: |
(Ersilia followed
him a few months later.) |
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I suppose she's rolling over
in there knowing that she'll have to share
her eternal resting place with all those
Tonellis she hated so much. Notice, though,
that women in Italy keep their maiden names
throughout their lives. Your gravestone
notes your married name by indicating either
"In Tonelli" (married to a Tonelli)
or "Ved. Tonelli" (widow of a
Tonelli).
Here are a bunch of Tonellis
whom Renato cannot identify, although his
(unofficial) middle name is Ambrogio, so
they must be related.
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After a while, you start noticing that
there are only about a dozen different names
in this cemetery: Tonelli, Toma, Ghelfi,
Musetti, etc.
I start thinking about Domenico, married
to a Ghelfi, and also of Teresina, Renato's
eldest aunt (the one holding the baby in
the portrait), who also married a Ghelfi.
I start imaging all kinds of genetic mutations
and I feel relieved to be of mixed race.
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Renato just walked in. I knew he wouldn't like
this particular postcard, so I'll make this a
short one. More tomorrow.
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