Trevor Thomas
Trevor Thomas
Colorado College
Participant in the 2010 ACM Student Symposium on Off-Campus Study
A Boy from the United States Looking for His Family
I am presenting a bookarts illustrative novel at the Symposium. It is a written narrative accompanied with various styles of prints. This is a story of how I traveled into the heart of Italy and reconnected with my family.
While in Italy, I traveled all across the country to reconnect with my family roots. I am a fourth generation Italian American whose family left Italy circa 1910. My mother's family came to the United States from Reggio di Calabria, and my father's family came from the small town of Bugnara in Abruzzo.
During my time in Italy, I visited both of these towns in an effort to reconnect with my Italian heritage. My time in Reggio di Calabria turned into a personal connection with the town; however, my stay in Bugnara transformed into something much more intimate.
Bugnara is a town of roughly 900 people with 25 families that still hold my father's surname: DiTomasso. I entered the town on a Saturday evening in an attempt to find my family, two days before I would return to Florence. In Bugnara, I would soon be the talk of the town as the "English boy" because I spent the next 24 hours wandering about the village with my story. I was a boy from the United States looking for his family's roots.
I met several people and at one point thought my search would not return any results. I was ready to accept that my family might not live there anymore when suddenly a strange series of encounters and events led me to Elida DiTomasso, my grandfather's cousin. Fate decided that we were to meet. We still keep in contact and I continue to mail her letters and artwork today. During my trip to Bugnara, I grew as a person and found my identity in Italy. When I returned to Florence, I didn't see myself as a visitor anymore. I am Italian, and one day I will return home.
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