I find my mother's side of the family most interesting. My grandfather is Sicilian and my grandmother is Italian. The earliest record of my mother's family on my grandmother's side is the Franchini family. They were nobility in Raveena, Italy in the mid 1400's. Giovanni Franchini was a high church official in Italy in 1477. After Giovanni came Bartholomo and Antonio, also high church officials in Italy. Most interesting to me from this side of the family is Jiulio Franchini. In 1580, Jiulio was Captain of the Guard under Pope Gregory XIII. He had 2000 men serving under him in a naval battle in 1603. From generation to generation, the Franchini family remained in the noble class, heavily involved in Italian government.

In 1905 Antoinette Franchini and Eduard Mascellaro, my great grandparents, emigrated to the United States. They were still considered very wealthy, sailing first class. In the United States, Eduard was able to attend Yale Medical School. He and Antoinette had 12 children, my grandmother being the youngest.

To this day I love hearing stories of my great grandparents and my grandmother's life in a large family. She always tells me about how she and her siblings were taught to help eachother and take care of themselves. Manners, respect, and hard work were very important to my great grandfather. Every evening the entire family would eat together, talk with each other about their days, work, and exciting events. The children would then do homework and assigned chores. These chores taught them responsibility and the value of money, since they got an allowance for doing their work.

My grandparents instilled these values in their children, and my parents have instilled them in my sister and me. Our family gatherings are always wonderful events, sitting around a table of delicious Italian foods and talking for hours. I hope to continue these wonderful traditions with my family in the future.