Casa Mia :: Languis ( Langiu - Comiti ) Family Web site

February 2008

Wear your red shirt on Fridays! Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing red every Friday in support of our troops. Visit redshirtfridays.org to learn more.

January 2008

Send a Thank You to our Troopss - Show your support and appreciation for the soldiers! This Web site gives you an opportunity to send a free printed postcard to US military personnel stationed overseas.

02-24-07: Finally, after a nudge from my sister, Paula, I managed to get the HHS reunion photos online. There are two sets -- 2005 and 2006 -- Enjoy!

09-15-05 What's New? A LOT! No time to post yet. Check back soon.

09-12-05: Had a great time in good old Havre de Grace last month. The 2005 HHS Alumni Reunion was a LOT of fun! So much so that we're having another one next year. It'll be held the same place, same time (at the HdG Community Center the last Saturday of July, 2006) ... so mark you calendars and plan to attend. It was a BYOB affair, but light eats and set-ups were provided. I think it was a good idea mixing all the graduating classes.

Marlise & Ralph Mason did a great job keeping everyone singing and dancing. HdG High Schoolers still like to dance and those "kids" from the 50's sure love to jitterbug :-) It was funny watching everyone doing the Cha-Cha, the Twist, and the "Hustle"! Quite a few people sang karaoke, and Buster Logwood even had a special outfit for his performance -- tan shoes with pink shoe laces, a polka dot vest ...and man oh man! I took a few photos...check them out.

10-20-04: An Italian-American friend in Havre de Grace, MD gave me this wonderful song/story CD about the joys of growing up Italian. He had never heard it before, but I heard the story in printed format a long time ago. It circulates often in I-A genealogy groups on the Web. I do not know the author's name; but if anyone reading this does know, please email me the link to his Web site, or send me his name so that I can give proper credit to the author or, if needed, get permission to mirror the file here.

If you have a slow Internet connection, it may take a while to download (it's a 5.71MB media file), but it's worth the wait...so multi-task! Do something else, like read through other pages of this site :-) While you're waiting, hold down your shift key and click one of the links on the left nav bar, this will force the pages to open in a new window. Gee, not only do you get to listen to a great story about growing up Italian, but you also just got a free Internet Explorer tip in the process ;-]

07-20-04: The Languis gals had a great time in Portland, Oregon. Shela, Mom, and I flew out for Brandi's wedding (Sister Paula's youngest). Sister Brenda arrived a few days ahead of us, and cousin Kathy a day after us. We all had a hand in preparing the Rehearsal Dinner, and used two kitchens to pull it all together -- An Italian feast enjoyed by all!! Brandi & Beto's friends flew in from different parts of the country. Some of Brandi's high school (Bel Air, MD) and college friends also attended. Her brother Eddie returned to the States after 10+ years of living in England and may be making Portland his permanent home.

Visit Brandi and Beto's wedding site, BetoandCatherine.com. Nowadays, and professionally, she goes by Catherine, named after her great-grandmother, Caterina Comiti Langiu, but family and close friends still call her Brandi, much to her dismay. When she was a little girl, Paula called her 'G.T.' -- gifted and talented! It was during those years that I recall some of us who lived out of state, being together on a vacation back in Havre de Grace. It was around Christmas time, and we were all sitting at Aunt Tillie's dining room table,when my father, Dominick, asked her "Do you know who I am?" She was wearing a little green velveteen dress with a ribbon and lace trimmed collar, she smiled and said "Yes! You're Santa Claus!" Daddy sported a full head of white hair and a beard back then. He got the greatest kick out of that. Kids... you just never know what they'll say next.

It seems I've reached a point in my life where there are more deaths in the family than births, more funerals than weddings; so, it was wonderful for all of us to be together for such a happy celebration instead of the usual sad affair. Between preparations and festivities, we managed to squeeze a little time in to just relax and catch up with each other as sisters. Shela, Paula and I spent one afternoon at The Grotto where we were visited by an angel in disguise. Soon, I'll tell the little story. That's why you always have to visit my site often, as you never know what little tidbit I'll have in store for you.

6-02-04: Guess who's flying to South Florida June 16th?? :-) Oh yea, I hear two other people from good old Havre de Grace are flying down on the same day.... such a co-inkydink ;] But I'm sooo glad I didn't have to share a plane with that shrew. Whew! That was a close one!

4-21-04: What's New With Nikki these days?? I'm busy getting ready for Tillie's Estate Sale, that's what! Finally, there's light at the end of the tunnel, and I can see the Florida sunshine peeking thru! I have a buyer for the family home, lot & business, and am keeping my fingers crossed that the sale goes through this time. Now I'm ready to sell the ENTIRE contents of the house. If it weren't for my childhood friend-like-a-sister, Chrissy, I never would have been able to pull this off on my own. She was a rock through the whole nightmarish scenario, keeping me calm and focused on what needed to be done. I'll never be able to thank her for all the help she gladly gave to me.

TilliesChillies.com - EVERYTHING PRICED TO SELL QUICKLY!! **HELP NIKKI GET BACK TO FLORIDA :-)

December 2003
Those of you who know me personally, know that I've been in Havre de Grace since January 2003 when I came up from Florida to help care for my cousin, Maria, when she became ill. Within 3 weeks of my arrival, she passed away. I miss her more than words could ever express. When I read over the different sections of this site, I see that she's so much a part of the memories I've recorded here. We loved each other like sisters and I'm especially grateful that I was able to spend those last few weeks with her.

I've been in Havre de Grace ever since, settling her business and personal affairs. Sadly, the old family home and Mom & Pop market Aunt Tillie established over forty years ago, has to be sold; and so, I'm sort of stuck here until then. Sister Shela sent me a Christmas present, a snowball figurine with little sparkly red shoes, from the Wizard of Oz. The subliminal message she hoped to get across was "There's no place like home." She misses me and wants me to come home. I placed the snowball globe on the dining room table, and every morning when I come downstairs I see it and know that one day soon I'll be going home to Florida. Some days, I shake it up and and repeat the mantra, "There's no place like home". It makes me smile. Too bad I can't click my heels and magically transport myself to Alligator Street.

The Casa Mia site has suffered terribly as I haven't had a minute to spare on my genealogy hobby, and to update facts I'm learning while researching my Langiu and Comiti surnames. I've got a lot on my plate right now, so I have zero time to work this site. It needs a major overhaul. However, my blog, Cripchick Chronicles, will be coming back soon, and if you're so inclined, you'll be able to keep abreast of my life in a suitcase. It's the easiest way I can think of to stay in touch with family, friends, and my TOAD team.

To all my friends in Havre de Grace, especially my childhood Italian friends from the neighborhood, thank you for the many visits, phone calls, emails, and all the other little things you do for me. You brighten my day and have helped me get through a difficult time in my life.

July 24, 2002
Maria and I were looking through old photos and came across some papers that belonged to Uncle Pete. We found some books of war rations, and a few government papers among other treasures. He wrote a few poems and the beginnings to a couple of stories he must have been kicking around in his head. They appear to be written in the 1940's, after WWII. What an imagination! In one of his poems, he takes on the persona of a race horse! Word of warning to my sisters, have a kleenex handy, because a couple of them will surely make you cry. Maria and I sat on the back porch reading them and laughing and boo-hooing at the same time! I did not edit them, just transcribed them as they were written, and uploaded them for all to enjoy. Just goes to show that our father's generation enjoyed reading and writing as much as we do. Visit this link to read Uncle Pete's Pages.

Also, on a similar note, before I left Florida for Havre de Grace this summer, I went through some old photos and papers that I had. I wanted to bring a few things for our newly found cousin from Baltimore, Josephine. Anyway, I found some papers that our Aunt Josephine wrote. They encompassed two weeks in October sometime in the 1960's while she was in Spring Grove. There was one particular poem she wrote that she called "The Senses". It was brilliant! Shela, our family author, got busy submitting it to different publishers and poetry contests. She told me last night, she's been invited to read it at a big conference in Orlando! It'll be a little while before I publish it online. In the meantime, you can keep busy reading Uncle Pete's Pages.

Shela and I had a wonderful time in Italy. Our unabridged travel log, "Our Ladies of Perpetual Hangover" is a fun read. A few of our stories are online, if you want to read any others, just send me an email. We truly did see the best parts of Italy -- the countryside in Tuscany, the city life in Rome, and the beautiful Mediterranean sea from the island of Sardegna. The country was everything I imagined it to be -- only better! It was the trip of a lifetime for me.

During our stay in Tuscany we saw the sights of Siena, Florence, San Gimignano, Montepulciano, Montereggioni, and so many beautiful hill towns along the way. Just going to Florence and being able to see Michelangelo's David was worth the whole trip!

We went on to see even more great works of art in Rome where we visited the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica. The Sistine Chapel and Rafael Rooms were glorious.

After two days in Rome, we took a 25 minute flight to Sardegna and stayed there four nights. As our plane approached Sardegna, and I saw my first glimpse of the island, I got so emotional that by the time I stepped off the airplane, my heart was so full, all I could do was weep. I've never felt anything like that in my life. Shela and I stood there on the tarmac, hugging each other, tears flowing. When I looked at those rugged mountains, my first thought was my God how hard life must have been for our grandparents; my second thought was the instant knowledge that this was where my own strength comes from. The mountains made it seem so harsh, yet the sea softened it. It's hard to explain.

We didn't find any relatives in Santa Teresa Gallura, though. We went to two addresses that I had, but one of them (Pietro Langiu at Capo Testa) was empty and completely gutted inside. It was kind of sad. The other address (Gina Serra) had no house number and a knock on neighboring doors produced no results.

When I returned home, I went to the Ellis Island Web site for what seemed like the millionth time, and lo and behold! I found some passenger lists! In the nick of time, too, because I was very despondent about ever finding a link to our ancestors after the futile search in Santa Teresa. You'll be happy to know, I've uncovered some great information about our Grandparents and their passage to this country. I'm still gathering the facts, but I'm so excited about it, I couldn't wait to share it with all of you. So check out the Family Facts link. You'll be surprised.