leaving lucca
by Jill Terry

"America is, of course, my home now, but I have always felt like a stranger here. And in Lucca, I am the Americana, which is painful for me, because I am Lucchese."

Tina Scopazzi couldn’t be expected to have many fondmemories of her birthplace in Lucca, Italy. Yet, she has many.

...the only consistent financial benefit of his absence came when he was placed in an internment camp during WWII...

Two months after her birth in 1928, Tina’s father came to San Francisco in search of the freedoms and income that lured so many European immigrants in the first half of this century.  Not surprisingly, some hard economic realities forced him to stay inAmerica indefinitely because the price of a return trip was out of his reach.Consequently, Tina grew up without a father.  Although he sent money home whenever hecould, she recalls the only consistent financial benefit of his absence came when he  was placed in an internment camp during WWII; the Italian government considered hima POW and gave his family a small stipend. Naturally, Tina would have preferred hispresence to the money.

Fortunately, the rest of her family was present and loving. Because young people did not wander out to play in Lucca in the 1930s and 1940s, Tina and her brother were escorted by their grandfather to the grand mura, the wide boulevard with great trees, where Lucca’s majestic walls implied protection.

"He would point out bird’s nests, tell us stories, buy us candies. Sometimes he would make me comb his hair or shine his shoes to get a piece of candy," she laughs. Wistfully, she adds, "I can still smell his pipe."

He was a stubborn man who, on his way back to Italy from his home in Brazil, was robbed of his life savings because he had refused to trust a bank, or the safety of his wife’s corset, with it. Tina’s family, then, subsisted on the modest rental income they received from the house in which they occupied one of three floors. Tina’s aunt, who also lived with them, worked as a seamstress to help supplement the family’s income.

Tina recalls eating soup every day, primarily made of vegetables because meat was a luxury.

Tina recalls eating soup every day, primarily made of vegetables because meat was a luxury. Sundays were pasta days. Her grandfather, a retired restaurateur, did the cooking and wouldn’t even allow women in his kitchen. He created delicious meals with common ingredients on a daily basis.

Mealtimes were not raucous, noisy forums where the family vied for attention, Tina says.

"The adults did most of the talking, and they did so quietly. Children were not encouraged to participate. They were taught table manners," Tina explains.

Tina’s childhood was cut a bit short when she was called upon to help raise her cousins, whose mother became ill when they were toddlers. After school, she would rush toher aunt’s house to tend to the needs of the children, not returning to her own home until they were put to bed.

...she met her first beau at her church group. He courted her at her home, with her mother in the same room...

Despite this grueling schedule, Tina found time for the occasional passeggiata through the city center, along the mura, with her friends and family. She never missed church and eventually met her first beau, a musician, at her church group. He courted her at her home, with her mother in the same room with them at all times.

In 1948, when the travel restrictions imposed by the war began to dissolve, Tina’s family could finally emigrate to America to join her father. Tina's aunt passed away, leaving the youngest cousin to be cared for by Tina.  Additionally, Tina's visa was delayed.  So, her family left for America without her.

A year later, when her visa was approved and a loving home was found within the family for her cousin, Tina joined her family in America.  She sent her fiance' the necessary papers to facilitate his own passage, but never received word that he got them. Years later, she learned that her efforts had been sabotaged by his parents, who did not want their son to leave Italy.

...her efforts had been sabotaged by his parents, who did not want their son to leave Italy.

Heartbroken by his silence, Tina turned her energies toward adjusting to the language and customs of her new country. "Everything here was so immense," she remembers."It took so long to get places! I was shocked because to get from Lucca to Florence only took 45 minutes by car but here you could travel 45 minutes and still be nowhere special." America felt isolating in many ways, and Tina sought out the company of other recent Italian immigrants who had been similarly, albeit sometimes subtly, ostracized from mainstream America.

She attended dances and picnics sponsored by Casa Fugazzi. She dedicated herself to learning English and at night school, met the man she eventually married.  She has raised her family, including comedian Dan Scopazzi, in the Bay Area.

see also... *Tuscany Region *Tuscany Guide *Rub Shoulders With the Rich & Famous *Discovering Monte Argentario *Villa San Michele *A Restaurant Discovery *Tuscan Women Cook *Battle of the Bridge *Michelangelo: Graffiti Artist *City Girl Meets Tuscan Farm *Leaving Lucca *The horseshoe adventure in Pinocchio's Hometown *How to flirt: Lucchese Style *A Tuscan Feast *Traveling to Italy Forum

Tina misses much about Lucca, and advises people not to leave the country where they have their roots. "America is, of course, my home now, but I have always felt like a stranger here. And in Lucca, I am the Americana, which is painful for me, because I am Lucchese.

"I feel lucky to be from Lucca," she continues. "The Lucchese are independent and strong. You get six Lucchese together, you get seven different ideas." 

What does she miss most in between her visits every couple of years?  "The mura," she says without hesitation.  "As soon asI arrive in Lucca, I must walk the mura. It calms me."

About the Author...
A San Francisco resident for sixteen years, writer Jill Terry (nee Conti) was born in Providence, Rhode Island to first generation Italian parents. Although she was educated in the finer points of gnocchi and heavy Italian pastry, she was far more immersed in American culture than Italian. She's built Italy up in her mind as such a phantasmagorical place than she has traveled everywhere around it without ever landing smack dab in it, for fear that Italy's reality will shatter her happy illusions. She hopes her involvement with virtualitalia.com not only will bring her closer to setting foot on Italian soil but put her in touch with Italians and Italian culture that she missed while watching Gilligan's Island as a child."