One thousand heavenly voices
singing Dona Nobis Pacem
in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
John Nava’s tapestries line the walls
my cousin Katherine Rose standing in as Jacinta
JOY!!!
Tag Archives: music
My Women of Influence…Gail
Gail is just my age, a second cousin once removed, and a beloved friend. She fits my definition of women who have influenced my life:
‘inspired, nurtured, loved, set the bar high, blazed the trail, lived with grace, risen to the task, used their gifts, modeled kindness, exhibited joie de vivre.’
She has the gift of music and has set the bar high for herself,
even decorating with musical instruments,
all the while inspiring others, especially children through her participation as a docent in the Music Van program. The Music Van is a mobile music classroom filled with orchestral instruments which visits local third grade classrooms, allowing the students hands on experience with the instruments.
The accordion is her forte.
She participates in accordion bands, performs solo, and delights family, friends, our community and beyond with her music.
True to our heritage she keeps the Italian culinary tradition alive.
See posts ‘Italian Feasts…Part 1 and Part 2’
From the oven in her yard come amazing pizzas, usually served as a first course, always with other delights to follow.
Her love of travel has taken her to many places. Because she can trace her lineage through a male relative to Italy, to her delight, she was able to obtain an Italian passport!
Wonderful travel adventures together…
life milestones celebrated…
so blessed to share the journey!!!
Filed under Family history, Food, Inspiration, Interiors, Travel
Italian Heritage – part 1
As life races on at lightning speed, reflecting on the past quiets the soul. Blessed to have the opportunity to actively participate in the lives of my grandchildren, I find myself often thinking of my maternal grandparents….grandparents I never met.
My grandfather – Pietro Cresto – born in Castellamonte, in the Piedmont region of what is now northern Italy in 1858.
A man of the ‘terra’, he worked as a potter – terragliere.
His hobby was music, his instrument of choice the cornet. While stationed in Milano during his military service, he was a member of the regiment’s band, and was often asked to fill in at the La Scala Opera House when the orchestra needed extra musicians.
Pietro came to America in the early 1880’s settling briefly in Kansas, and then moving on to Colorado. In Rockvale, he worked in the coal mine – another iteration of a man of the ‘terra’.
After loosing his first wife and a son, he and his second wife raised seven children – ‘his and theirs’,
and participated in the life of the town.
He continued to play his cornet, teaching his son Achille to play,
and entertaining his family from memory with selections from the operas he had played at La Scala.
He and Marianna grew old together,
and died within a year of each other.
Although we never met, I experience his presence today. I see his face reflected in those of cousins who inherited his handsome Roman nose, I hear the echoes of his musicality from gifted cousins, and I feel the pull of the earth and its provision for us in my bones.
Filed under Family history, Inspiration
Susan Wennerstrom | W designs 