davidgagne.net

At some point recently I stumbled upon Geni.com, a family-tree site. This is the kind of thing I seriously dig. It makes me sad that I can only go back two or three nodes on my family tree. My oldest nana is 86 and — when I called her a few minutes ago — was having a hard time remembering the names of even her brothers and sisters. Strangely, though, she had no problem naming papa’s aunts and uncles and dozens of other names I never knew.

This is the sort of thing that people kick themselves for not doing earlier in their lives. Pick up the phone and call your grandmother, for the love of God. When’s the last time you talked to her? She’s not on DVD, y’know? When that RAM goes, it’s gone … and you’re not sending it to the Apple store to retrieve it, either.

By the way: Don’t let the “Gagne” fool ya. As much as I love the name — and believe me, I love the name Gagne — 50% of me is 100% Italian.

Here is a list of some of the really fun names in my family tree:

• Salvatore and Concetta Marchetti
• The sisters Julia, Gilda, Olga, and Dora Albanese
• The brothers Vincenzo and Gennarino Albanese
• Elenterio and Rocco DiFalco
• Mame Colchran
• Minnie Legere