I so wish I had asked Mum more about herself and what she knew about my grandfather. In fact I knew very little about her.
I knew she was Italian and had a sister Aunt Clara. They came out with my grandmother and her brother in the 50s. They lived in Carlton, a Melbourne suburb, where there were other Italian families. Her uncle went to work on the Snowy River Dam scheme and later settled up at Peats Ridge near Sydney. There he started a successful citrus plantation. Perfect soil and perfect climate. He became involved in the Sydney fruit market working with the Italians there.
Uncle Vince was married to Aunt Clara. ‘Your mother's father came from Naples as far as I know,’ he once said, 'that was the word in the family. He would be old now, that is, even if he is still alive.'
'Did Mum know her father? She never spoke to me about him.'
'Well, we think she never met him.'
'Didn't she?'
'I don't think so; that is the sad part of it.'
'Why? How come?'
'It was a chaotic in Italy at the end of the war. It was a broken country. So many families got separated. Her mother, your grandmother who I think you met, came over here from southern Italy with a number of families. But apparently not with your grandfather.'
'Mum said she didn't remember much. She told me she was born in Australia.' Maybe her father stayed on in Italy! Maybe she was illegitimate. No wonder she never spoke of him.
'What about my grandmother? I wish I had asked her now when I last saw her. I didn't have those questions then.'
My uncle nodded, 'the trouble is she returned to Italy some years ago. She didn't like the Australian way of life and missed her home in the foothills of southern Italy.'
'Do you know where she lives?' I asked him.
'Not too sure, though I think the family came from a village near a place called Cataldo.'
Maybe it was a fling, a one-night stand? Maybe my grandmother didn't get to know my grandfather, they had a brief affair and she became pregnant. It was not a good thing to happen in those days. So they all packed up and left for Australia.
'Carly, your grandmother's brother once told me this. When your grandmother left Italy with the family she didn't realize she was with child until she was a few weeks at sea. Her brother is the one who later settled up at Peats Ridge. She later lived there and helped him, then returned to Italy.'
'I don't suppose you've any idea what his name was.'
'Your grandfather?'
'Yes.'
'No I don't, but I can phone Uncle Beppo for you and see if he knows.'
Which he did. He got the name I wanted and phoned me that night. I wrote it down.