Guida, I'm fortunate to have one Grandmother still
alive. She's 82, and was born here in the US, but my Great Grandfather
(her Dad) was born in Sao Miguel and came over as a
youngster. He always went back and forth throughout his adult
life.
I've talked to her quite a bit about the genealogy
thing over the last two years since I got interested in it. One day I
was asking her what the deal was with two first cousins marrying each other in
our family (I'm descended from them), and she responded with something
my Great Grandfather told her: "You never knew what the hell was
going on in the Old Country, and you didn't ask- but there was always something
going on".
Another Great Grandfather of mine on my Mother's
side would routinely disappear unannounced and it caused my Mom's Mom, her
Mother, and her sisters tremendous hardship. With this guy, I don't think
the wanderlust ever went away- even when he made it to the US from Sao
Miguel. In what should have been an omen, he and my Great Grandmother were
due to be married in New Bedford, and he "vanished" the night before. Four
years later he turned up claiming that he was walking past a bar down by the
docks and was shanghaied (whacked over the head, knocked out, and woke up on a
whaling ship). He definitely ended up on a whaling ship, but my suspicion
is that he willingly signed on.
He would take off for a few years at a time for the
rest of his life. My Mother is convinced that he had kids everywhere that
weren't with my Great Grandmother. I know that some of my Grandmother's
sisters never forgave him.
Jay Fraga