bueno, aqui esta:

my dad's family is extremely difficult to track, so hopefully i'll know more about it later.
my mother's family is Italian. here goes.
she's Anne Bridget Randler (formerly Cipriano); her parents (both living) are Virginia and Ronald Cipriano.

my gram's parents came to America when they were young:
Natale Modica (b. Dec 8, 1895) was technically an illegal alien, who worked the ships to come to America around age 16 or 17. He had a document signed by King Emmanuel stating that he was not married in italy and could marry in american if he chose. His wife Angelina Carbone (b. April 4, 1902) came through Ellis Island from Sicily when she was maybe 3 or 4 years old. they had 9 girls, of whom my gram is one. 6, including gram, live in southern california, two in upstate ny, Aunt Natalie lived a hard life with many, many health problems, and died in her mid-forties.
my great grandma Angie's parents were Vito Carbone (b. 1872) and Francesca Mistretta (b. 1871) whose mother was Angeline Ciamara, all from Sicily. Gramma Angie died in the very early 1990s, "coincidentally" while my mother and i lived in s. california near the rest of our family while dad was in kenya.
Natale's parents were Michale Modica and Santa Galozzo. Michale's mother was Nanette Rose. They are from near Modica, Sicily.

Papa's parents were Nick Cipriano (1907, Utica, NY) and Mary Ludwikowski (b. 1906, if my math is right) she is, clearly, not Italian. Papa is an only child. Gramma Mary died in 1992 at the age of 86, also while mom and i were there to visit and say goodbye.
Nick's parents were Angelo Cipriano (b. 1864) and Carmela Nudo (b. 1871), both born in Fragente, just outside Naples.

basically, it all boils down to this. 1) i love having an ethnicity, even if, regrettably, i don't speak italian... yet. it explains many, many things about me, including my desire and ability to eat all the time and my penchant for nagging, a sport which, again regrettably, i am extraordinarily good at, despite my efforts at contradicting years of family training. 2) i qualify for an niaf scholarship, which was my reason for finding all this out most recently. when i have asked this question in the past, the response i got was relatively incomplete. money is a great motivating factor in an extended family whose children did not go to college except by their own work at second and third jobs. 3) when i finally go to italy, i'll get to visit places that are actually noted in the Modica/Cipriano family bible. 4) assuming i'm supposed to, and assuming family history is an indication, i'll live a long, long time.

ciao amici!