So your last name is "Antonio"... Are you Italian?

This will be such a random post but I don't care as it's my blog and I can write whatever I want...

First off sorry for the lack of updates... HMV has been everything I had hoped it would be and each day is an adventure. I'm learning lots, I'm doing lots but most importantly I'm having fun! After being in the dark for most of this year it's invigorating to be in a position that allows me to stretch and grow.

Now back the to the title of this post... Yesterday I was reading a family tree book that was sent to my mother about 6 years ago. It's all about my dad's side of the family and how the families immigrated to Canada and how they lived out their lives. Anyway for whatever reason I was shuffling through one of my drawers and I came across it again. I feel lucky to have it because it provides me alot of interesting information about my history. Being that my dad isn't around to explain things like who was who or what, this book lets me peer into his memory and learn things that I wouldn't have otherwise. For example - my grandmother (Baba) Barbara moved to Canada in 1907 with her parents and siblings. My grandfather (Guido) Nick moved to Canada in 1912 with his family. I'm not sure why I never picked on this before but I was even able to even identify my great grandparents, etc. Anyway my last name "Antonio" came from the fact that alot of Ukrainian names were hard to pronounce for Canadians so therefore they were changed to make them easier to say. I've always known my last name should have been Antoniw but when my father was born in 1930 it was changed to Antonio much like some of his sisters. Most of whom have passed on as well. All my life I have been repeatedly asked - "Are you Italian"... No one seems to think it's a Ukrainian name too... I always justify it by having to explain that there's a whole bunch of Ukies running around Saskatchewan with my last name too.

It's been so long since I've had to think about all those influential aunt's and uncles or their offspring who are of course my cousins. Reading the book has inspired me to reach out to them when I go out west in a couple of weeks. I hope they haven't forgot about me. Many of them I have not seen since my dad's funeral 14 years ago. I will have to do some investigating before I get out there to get phone numbers etc. Lucky for me my dad still has two sisters left who will likely be able to help me out. Hopefully I can make it happen when I'm there.