Project Description
February, 2017
“The best experience that we could have”
I feel so fortunate that I chose Mirella Ammirati to assist me in my search into my family heritage! She was responsive to my desire to learn about my father’s heritage in Pozzilli from the moment I found her on the internet.
Initially only a stranger to me off the internet, after months of collaboration with her, she became more than a name, a service.
She revealed herself as a sensitive, warm person who empathized with my need to connect with my Italian heritage as personally as if she was researching her own….with professionalism but at the same time with caring and warmth, eager to please and to create the best experience that we could have.
When Mirella met my cousins and myself, who had traveled all the way from the United States, she greeted us with warmth and enthusiasm. Her English was perfect and she was responsive to our many questions about our family and the area from which they came.
Our hearts were filled with emotion and excitement when she handed us the family tree she created for us and I could actually feel her excitement for us.
She connected with the local government to help us navigate our way back into the lives of our ancestors, driving us to a little farm hamlet in the mountains to the home of my grandparents and great-grandparents, to the church where our ancestors were christened and baptized, to the cemetery where they were buried and to the town where they traveled to sell their produce.
She was not complacent with the vast amount of information she had given us and continued during our day together to gather more information from the people we encountered along the way.
She not only introduced us to the very hamlet but found the actual home of my ancestors with the road where my grandparents first met and put them in context of their traditions and customs. She even sought out people in the community that may have been related to us.
After I returned home to the U.S. and had subsequent questions about some of the information, she did added research for me to clarify some of the information and facts about my family, the hamlet from which they came and the history of the area.
I could feel her energy and interest even after her “job” was completed, realizing how sincere and genuine she was and eager that we have a meaningful connection with our heritage. I would highly recommend Mirella to anyone who wants to learn about their heritage. She is professional, competent, responsive, sincere with a warmth that will make your journey one that will be treasured forever.
Anita
