‘Bridge of Love’
Book follows stream of love letters between Pa. and Tuscany
Cousins Christine Palamidessi and Nancy Livoriao discovered a side to their grandparents that they never knew when they found old love letters among family documents. Palamidessi, an artist who lives in Boston, has collected them in a book, “Bridge of Love,” that reveals and translates letters sent in the early 1920s between Angelo Palamidessi in Freeport, Armstrong County, and Pia Biondi, who was living in their hometown of Chiesina Uzzanese in Tuscany, Italy.
“Wishing you lots of beautiful things, and holding your hand tightly, I say to myself you are my beloved,” Angelo writes in one. “Confident of your love I send you from this faraway land a thousand affectionate kisses.”
The young lovers also write about inflation, food shortages, second waves of the Spanish flu, new immigration rules, smalltown gossip and anxiety about leaving their families. The books also includes family photos, immigration documents, passports and colorful collages by Palamidessi.
She recently gave a talk about the book and her grandparents at an Italian American Studies Association’s conference at the University of Pittsburgh. The book is available for $25 at palamidessi.com or the Heinz History Center gift shop in the Strip District.