Deep historic roots...

As I have recovered completely from jet lag, I have taken to waking up early about 5:00 AM and working for a couple of hours, then returning to bed to sleep again for an hour or so. At this time most mornings my wife gets up to work for a couple of hours before the kids wake up.   

This system seems to work pretty well for us and allows us to have most of the rest of the day free to play.  

Most mornings when I get up I spend half my time on my online class, about a quarter on prep for the fall and about a quarter on my grad school stuff...these proportions may very depending on what chair duties I have.  This is the way I have to work, otherwise I would get confused and forget something.  My wife on the other hand, seems to work on a different schedule.  She clearly gets her work done, but she always seems to be working on something else when I eventually fully wake up.  

She may be looking up phone numbers for her father, or going through clothes collected for our children by her mother, maybe looking up various classes for our kids (i.e. dance, tennis, swimming classes).  I'm accustomed to this and actually take great interest into what she is doing, and usually she will share anything of interest with me.  

Today I came up the stair to find my wife and her mother working on a kinship chart.  This is a project she has wanted to work on for a number of years, partly to preserve the knowledge only her mother holds and partly as a development for her class.  As I sat and listened the years and generations rolled out, name after name, the family's profile became clear...What an amazing thing to have, as I counted it there were four generations covered with the potential for a couple more.  When all is said and done, my wife's maternal linage may stretch back 200 years.   

As a by product of living in an old country in a small area where people usually don't move far, relationships are easy record and maintain.   

As with other entries I will now turn this to myself.  As an american and as a person who is adopted, this kind of analysis is impossible for me on several levels.  First being orphaned and adopted gives me no knowledge of my biological past.  I know I was born in Cambodia in the Early 1970's this was the time of the Khmer Rouge.  This "monster" killed millions of Cambodians over a very short period of time.  It was always told to me that I was orphaned because my parents were killed by the KR and for some reason I was spared.  But I always had the question what if my parents weren't the 'good guys' what if they were the 'bad guys'? 

Within the reality of my life I can legally and personally claim my adopted family as my own and their heritage comes with it.  This is were the second layer of problems arises.  

My father's father was an Italian who immigrated to the U.S. when he was a small boy.  At that time in the U.S. integration was the way, people tended to reject their cultures of origin in an attempt to be accepted in their new home.  My paternal grandfather either didn't know or tried to forget his past.  Which included not talking about his family.  As far back as I can find out it is my great grand father Vincent Tessandori, who immigrated from Italy in the 1880's as a teenager.  Beyond that I have only heard rumor.  I have found other Tessandoris on FaceBook: a group from Italy, a group in Argentina and a group in Bakersfield California ( I know I am related to them).   I know that Tessandori is a name from Northern Italy and is fairly rare.  I've been told it translates to Master Weaver...which is kind of cool.  So its a good chance that we are related some how.  Just how this works is different depending on who you talk to.  

One side is pretty plain, Vincent moved to the U.S. lived in Bakersfield where he raised his kids...That comes from my side of the family.  Another story takes Vincent from Italy to Argentina where he starts a family, leaves them there and moves to Washington State for a short while before settling in Bakersfield, where he starts my lineage. The truth of this is debatable but there are some interesting things that suggest the truth is somewhere in-between.  First I have document for a Vincent Tessandori that shows much of his migration at least within the U.S.  It mentions Bucoda, Washington and Bakersfield.  So I can say that is supported.  

Immigration Document For Vincent Tessandori

Another interesting thing is that there are a group of Tessandoris in Washington State who actually spell their name "Tessandore."  This could be another piece of the puzzle and another lost branch of the Vincent Tree.  

Rico Tessandore for Judge

My wife knows at least one side of her family very well, and can take pride in that. The tradition and history she has is wonder and beautiful and above all else neat.  Then big question here is...Do I want to know my family the same way she does?  I guess another question is...Does it matter?   I won't answer the first question... partly because it is not possible and partly because its easier to not know.  The second question, the answer is a resounding NO!   If we've learned anything from the study of family and kinship we know that your family is who you know you can go to if you have a need.