Saturday, June 27, 2009

jacinthe, redux (or perhaps my best facebook conversation ever)

Lynette Gaido
June 23 at 5:20pm
Wow it was so good to see you yesterday. Thanks so much for lunch. I had such a good time catching up with you. We need to get together more often.

I am at home cooking today (yea, right!) It's Roy's birthday. It's hot outside!
Missy Gaido Allen
Today at 9:58am
lynette...what a sweet note--too bad it's not for me!
love,
m.
Lynette Gaido
Today at 10:01am
I am such a moron. 56 year old gets run over by facebook. I just put two comments I think on your page. I'm stumped as to how to do this right. Okay so I'll write what I said there again. My bathroom cabinets are watchet. I love that against yellow and white striped walls. It's cool looking. When are you moving?
Missy Gaido Allen
Today at 11:10am
no problem! i'm totally entertained. we are moving in 6 weeks; i'm not terribly psyched. by the way, if you haven't read the jacinthe post you might want to take a gander at it--since you know who i am talking about, it might be funnier...
here's the link: http://www.cyberallens.blogspot.com
enjoy!
love,
m.
Lynette Gaido
Today at 12:32pm
Well, I have more news for you on St. Hyacinth. When we went to Cercenaska (sp?) the village near Torino where the Gaidos are from we went to the cemeteries and noticed that a lot of the soldiers who had been buried there were of the order of the Hyacinth or of San Jacinito (which means St. Hyacinth) Apparently this saint was the saint who looked after the men (or people) in cercinaska. I often wonder if my paternal grandfather the first San Jacinto Gaido who came to this country was actually named San Jacinto or whether they messed his name up when they came through Galveston. He was only 2 years old at the time and after his parents died he spent a lot of time living in the Galveston Orphans Home. The Columbos (our cousins) would take San Jacinto, Mike and Joe (the three brothers) out of the orphanage on holidays or when they had enough money to care for 3 more children.

Which brings me to the next question "san" is not saint in Italian, I don't think. So did the immigration people in Galveston figure his name just sounded like San Jacinto the monument and gave my grandfather this name?

Because in Italian Giacinto is spelled with a G - not a J.

Then, San Jacinto, or Cinto as everyone called him, got married and had three sons of his own: Mike (my father), Fritz, and San Jacinto, your dad's dad.

Then, my father had three boys too. Interesting symmetry.

Anyway, that's my version of the tale of San Jacinto.
Missy Gaido Allen
Today at 2:27pm
that is very interesting--i didn't know any of that. san is saint in italian, but what i found to be strange was the jacinto part--it isn't italian (as you noted) but rather spanish. and saint hyacinth was seriously militaristic. so i wonder if what you described is what happened--they heard "san giacinto" and wrote "san jacinto" because of the battle and subsequent texas pride and all that good stuff.

?
Lynette Gaido
Today at 3:41pm
Yea and let's face it. The immigration people in Galveston were probably very uneducated about the world. So, they just said Oh, must be like San Jacinto.

Did you know that your dad and his dad used to be photographed and interviewed by the Houston papers on San Jacinto Day? I bet you all have copies of those pictures somewhere.

Also we noticed in the cemeteries in Italy that each little village appeared to have a patron saint who looked after the village. Why that meant that he or she protected them in battle is another thing. And by the way, I wonder if San Giacinto was a man or a woman. I think the statues or etchings for lack of a better word were of a male in robes but I will have to ask Roy because he always remembers these details.

Hmm. All very interesting.
Missy Gaido Allen
Today at 4:32pm
how the hell did i never hear about grandad and dad until now? i NEVER knew that, and i am sure ashley and lindsay do not either! holy shit. that sounds like a research project...

so san giacinto was the patron saint of the gaido's village? that adds even another giant question mark to what your grandfather's name was or should be, as they could have been describing their village as one that was protected by san giacinto...or maybe not. i don't know.

very enlightening, indeed! i am cutting and pasting this entire conversation on my blog--this is too good not to make public! actually, i won't do it without your consent, so let me rephrase that and say, "may i reproduce this conversation on my blog?"

thank you for all this fascinating background info!
Lynette Gaido
Today at 6:30pm
of course! I think Charlotte Daniel may have gone to Cerneaska too. I'm still not sure about the spelling of the name of the village.
Please feel free to post it.

We also met a man whose last name was Gaido and he looked just like your dad's brother. very similar looks.
Missy Gaido Allen
Today at 8:09pm
cercenasco! that's the village outside of torino. and who would this mythical brother of my dad be, who last i heard was an only child? actually, grandad was super-social, so nothing would surprise me in that way...
love,
m.

**crickets chirping**

1 comment:

  1. So where are SJG I's brothers? I did not know about them. What were their names?? Is that side of the family known? Lynnette, join the "I"m a gaido, you're a gaido" group on facebook! There are groups of Gaido's for Argentina and Honduras - all originating from the same city SJG I did. pretty interesting..

    I would not be surprised if the spelling of "San Jacinto" was botched at the border.

    L

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