2022 Project Update

Every time I’d exit the Minnesota Secretary of State office, where I had to go repeatedly for my Italian citizenship documentation, I would see these two flags across the street and think, *What are the odds?!?!*

Eccoci qua… 2022!

It’s been far too long since I’ve given a full project update, but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been hard at work — on the contrary! We Are 25 has been steadily developing its foundation and gaining momentum behind the scenes.

When I last posted a blog update, a whopping two years ago, I was still naively optimistic about my wonderful 2020 plans. The year ahead was meant to hold a couple long trips to Italy, including an extended stay in Sicily and Campania, in edition to a working trip to the east coast of the U.S. I was getting ready to source a research assistant, ramp up my production, and seek additional funding so I could continue to move things along. At the same time, I was anticipating my own Italian citizenship case to start moving smoothly and steadily through the Roman court system

And did I ever have the wrong idea! All those wonderful plans were replaced by … at first, a vacuum of uncertainty. All travel screeched to a halt, and I was heartbroken to have to cancel my return trip to Italy in March 2020. I’d been counting the days! Public resources — libraries, archives, offices — became less available. People retreated into their own homes (especially in Italy, out of necessity) and into their interior worlds.

As the pandemic raged and then dragged on, I stayed in contact with many of the project’s collaborators, participants, and supporters. Frequent WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram messages were exchanged with Venticinques (and friends) throughout the Italian south and beyond. Through it all, relationships blossomed and grew despite the unsettling circumstances.

With my travel plans suspended indefinitely and being unable to work for months — my event and portrait photography business had seemingly evaporated overnight — I was determined to take advantage of the empty time and space that life suddenly presented. This project is one of the most important things in my life, and I was able to take stock of what We Are 25 needs in order to grow. I focused on the things that I could do not just despite the circumstances, but because of them.

I poured many hours and all my love into designing a new website (this one!), which has the room to grow and expand along with the project. I’m especially grateful I found a way to build a dual-language site… and that I had the time to actually do it.
I invested time and money into my video productions capabilities, enrolling in a couple documentary shorts courses at a local film school. This helped me refine my concept, boost my skills, and create what is now the prototype for the day-in-the-life videos that are so central to the We Are 25 project.

Here’s a short, rather impressionistic video I made in the spring of 2020. It has nothing to do with We Are 25, but everything to do with living through the first seasons of the pandemic. Thanks to the amazing Venice-based ambient artist Gigi Masin for letting me use his music!

And here’s a tiny sample of the first day-in-the-life bio documentary. No Punching in the Hammock! stars Don 25, with special appearances from Vaughn 25 & Westyn 25. The full video will be available online.

Thanks to the meticulous record-keeping of the Italians throughout the past few centuries, as well as the digitization efforts of the LDS community, it was possible for me to spend countless hours poring over ancestral records online in the Italian Antenati database as well as some U.S. genealogy sites. I am still — and will continue to be — building off the work I started then.
While this may seem unrelated, it’s not: a side benefit of the pandemic was that I was able to relocate to beautiful Seattle while working a remote marketing job. My purpose in returning to the city that never let go of me (I lived here in my 20s) was simple and important: create space to be happy, and to focus my time and energy on the We Are 25 project. This decision has proved to be very fruitful, as I’ve tapped into some lovely branches of the 25 tree that I never would have otherwise. (More on that later.)

So now here we are in September 2022, and I’m considering how I will be furthering the project’s goals in the months and years ahead. What’s next for the We Are 25? What has evolved, what has been lost, and what will remain the same?

While I’m sorting through the answers to those questions, I can say a few things for certain:

It’s important that I work as quickly as possible, while I can still get to know as many people from the older generations as possible. When I think of some of the older folks I’ve met along the way and how by the time I see them next, years will have already passed… it makes me want to get right on the next plane. Life is uncertain, and there is no time to lose!
I am heading back to Sicily & Campania in October, and hope to spend some extended time with the wonderful people I’ve gotten to know and whom I’ve missed so very much. (Leonforte & Agira, I am coming for you!)
I’ll also be spending a few days in Calabria in a town called Acri, one of my ancestral villages (my grandma Rosa Romano’s family). I’ll be shooting photo and video as part of a project I’m involved in with a couple friends from the village. The project is called “Viviamo Acri” and its mission is to encourage tourism — genealogical, cultural, and environmental — in the area.

Perhaps one of the things that sustained me the most over the past couple years: receiving a constant stream of emails and messages from people like you who found their way to this website and who reached out to say hello, and to share stories and histories of their own. You know who you are, and I’m so grateful for you. And for those of you who have been thinking of writing but haven’t yet: please do it! It is such a joy to hear from Venticinques (and Twentyfives, and Ventis) from around the globe. I hope to meet as many of you as possible in person in the years ahead.

And of course, an undeniable source of strength and inspiration has been the support of the special people who’ve been invested in this project from the beginning, and who have buoyed me up in many ways, ranging from financial support to emotional cheerleading sessions. I appreciate you!! With all the ups and downs in the past two years, one thing that never changed was the little bank account that holds all the project funds. It was always there, full of hope and optimism for the time when I could finally get back to work. It may not be a lot of money, but having even just a modest supply dedicated to this project, ready to be put back to work again. really has made a difference.

Thank you for taking the time to read. Please send a note and say hello!

Please consider passing this site on to someone you may know who would be interested in helping to fund this project. The couple thousand dollars set aside in the bank will help, but it won’t get me that far! Until I am able to pull together the content for proper fundraising efforts, any fiscal support would be very well utilized and VERY much appreciated. I’m very used to stretching each and every dollar, and I’ll continue to put any and all donations to good use.

Stay tuned for more updates. I promise you won’t have to wait so long for the next one!