“Ricordo del 26 July 1950 sulla spiaggia di Palmi – Memory of 26 July 1950 on the beach of Palmi…”
Sent to my grandparents from relatives in Italy during the 1950s, these beautiful photographs with their fleeting, heartfelt messages written on the back say a lot about the sacrifice of migration. Yes, that courage to go to the other side of the world brought much-needed opportunity and prosperity, as well as new friends and family. And yet, there was so much that had to be left behind too, loved ones, ancestral homes no matter how modest, centuries and generations of history and belonging.
To think of the fragility of such photographs criss-crossing the world sent with love and a need to keep family ties strong, well, it both warms my heart and makes it break a little, if I’m honest. These photographs were taken in Palmi, Calabria and Fossa, Abruzzo, Nanna Francesca and Nonno Anni’s birth towns and I wonder how they must have felt when they received them from their loved ones, Vincenzo, Pierina and Luigi.
I know this tradition kept on at least until the 1970s since Nanna would get me, as a child, to pose for photos to send to Italy. Back then, I couldn’t understand why she’d be sending a photo of me to some far-off relatives I’d never met. Now, it is quite amazing and beautiful to think how, for many decades, families between two countries on far sides of the world kept close in this way. 🖤📸
Zoë Boccabella 
A lovely story Zoë.
Many thanks, John!
How special Zoe to have these photos. As you say, what courage your Nonno had at such a young age to come to Australia where they weren’t always made feel welcome. I often wonder if the house in Fossa was able to be restored after the tragic earthquake.
Yes, the photos I have are so very precious, Judy! It’s interesting you mention the earthquake, as it’s coming up to the 15th anniversary since it happened. I will be posting something about it then. Although, sadly, I can say the house has not yet been able to be restored, like many of those buildings in the ‘red zone’ of the town that remain uninhabitable. I do hold hope for the future though!
I have a video of my daughter singing
Lovely, Robyn! xx
Your message today reminds me of the sacrifice of my grandparents who travelled to America from Fossa looking for a better life. I and my siblings are here because of them and the ancestors that came before them. What were their lives like, I wonder?
It was exactly that question that you ask, Glenn, that partly prompted me to return to Fossa and to delve into and later write about the everyday lives of my own grandparents and great-grandparents who lived there and migrated. The more years that go on, the more I realise what an impact migration has had on our families in so many different ways and continues to do so.