*This post is part of a Bloggers Link Up that I decided to participate in. Thank you to Kelly from Italian at Heart, Jasmine from Questa Dolce Vita and Kristie from Mammaprada for hosting. Click on the badge below for more information and to read about the other bloggers participating this month.
December’s topic is: The Italian Connection
If you’re new to my blog then you’ll want to read the post on how I met my Italian husband. (click here for that post) Ever since my first trip to Paris in 1994, I’ve had this pull or connection to Europe. I don’t know why. Then I came to Italy in 2004 and it was even stronger. Carlo and I moved (back) to his hometown, Torino, in 2009. 9 years later and this connection to Italy is even stronger.
For the last couple of months, I have felt this desire to dig a bit deeper and find out more about my family. My grandmother spent a lot of time working on family history and now my mom and sister are continuing the work. I am grateful to belong to a church that has the largest Family History archives in the world as this had made the search a bit easier.
On a whim, I logged into my FamilySearch.org account and to my surprise, there was A LOT of names already on my mom side. I knew that my maternal side was more European than American and therefore I always thought that’s where I got this love of Europe.
However, as I clicked further back, I saw quite a few names that looked very familiar….
You see that?!? UMBERTO II DE SAVOIE!… I’ve got a Savoy in my family line!! In case you aren’t familiar with the Savoy family, they ruled parts of France and Italy (including Torino!!) and then became the family that would rule a united Italy. Now my line isn’t direct line because it then goes into Portugal but the fact that my 26th great grandfather was a Count of Savoy makes me feel more connected to my adopted country.
After seeing this, I immediately bought a DNA kit from Ancestry.com and my results showed that I am indeed 6% Italian,Greek!
This new information has lit a fire inside and now I’m on a mission to help my husband discover his roots!
texasmomintorino.com 
Wow!!! That gave me goosebumps about your ancestry results!!! What a great connection to your adopted home, Torino! (I love Torino too, btw, studied abroad there!!!) I swear there is something in Italian DNA no matter how big or small that pull you back to Italy!
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I think you’re right! Something about Italy that just grabs your attention. Maybe my girls will feel that way about Mexico when they get older. My DNA says I’m 48% Native American with majority of my roots coming from South Texas/Northern Mexico! I’m truly Tex-Mex!!
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OMG!! WOW! Can you believe I read this at the exact time I am writing a post on Turin?? Whoa! So lovely to read your story
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Ishita- I loved your post about Turin! I’m sure you’ve inspired someone to visit the city!
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Thank you Sonia 😍 it really feels great when I hear it from locals. Hope to be back very soon x
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This is so fascinating! I love that you have Italian roots and also just happened to marry an Italian. I did the Ancestry test recently. It’s funny because my Grandma always used to tell us we had Spanish and Irish in our family history and everyone thought she was wrong. Everyone young and old. Then I did the test and it said that I’m literally 20% Spanish and the rest is Celtic! She was right bless her! Thank you for joining up and look forward to hearing more posts from Torino! xx
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It’s always hard to know when you hear family stories if they’re actually true or if they’ve been changed as it gets passed down through the years. It’s great that you’re able to confirm what your Grandma has told you!
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Hey! I loved this post, you really took the Italian connection topic to a whole new level. How interesting about your ancestry and everything, I’ve always been fascinated with this. I’ve never come to Torino but let’s keep in touch because I would love to meet up sometime. It’s amazing this pull that Italy has on some of us eh? Thanks for joining up and looking forward to learning more about each other in the new year! #DolceVitaBloggers unite!
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Thank you for co-hosting! I love reading other people’s experiences and connections with Italy. Let’s definitely keep in touch and would love to show you around Torino if you happen to come this way!
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I really want to get a DNA kit!!! They’re so fascinating!!!! I bet it was exciting knowing there is Italian blood in your veins!! 😍
Angela
http://www.angela-williams.org
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You should get one! I think Ancestry.com is having a promotion right now and you can get one for almost half price. It was so exciting… felt like Christmas morning! haha
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I love discovering family history and roots. Your discovery is so cool! I’ve been thinking about doing a DNA test because my dad’s side is Italian (100% from what we know) whereas my mom’s side is British and I believe Irish. It would be really cool to see what comes up. I’m also starting to put more work into my family line because has the older generations die off, we lose so much of our history and knowledge to pass on to the future generations.
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You should definitely look into doing a DNA test. I’ve done AncestryDNA and 23 and Me. My mom and sister did MyHeritageDNA and I think so far the consensus is that Ancestry was easier to read and had a more in depth analysis.
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