(My birthfather, his grandfather, and sister April 20,1956)

(Veronica Odorisio Ginosa, daughter Assunta & son Alessandro, 1885)

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My birthfather came into my life soon after I found my biological mother. The story is outlined on my sidebar under "My Adoption". I was very fortunate that his mother cared little for older photographs and by the time she passed away in 2000 she had given me nearly every picture and document she had dating older than 20 years. I especially like this one of her son, my birthfather taken just a couple years before I was conceived.

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He married after separating from my birthmother, and had three children with his new wife. I was very fortunate to have known them for a period of time while we were close in the early 1990's. The four subsequently moved south later on and although I saw them once at our grandmother's funeral in November of 2000 we no longer remain in contact, I don't even have their address and phone number any longer. Here is a photo from one of the holidays we spent together.

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From left, me, my girlfriend (and subsequent wife), my half-sister,, sister-in-law, older half brother and in front younger half-brother. I have many pictures of them, but this is my most favorite of all.

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I have only discovered this past Sunday that my birthmother is moving from her Apartment in Springfield to (unbelievably) the Apartments directly across the street from my Condo building. I can see her parking lot from my front door. This should be interesting in terms of our future relationship, which has dwindled to nothing in the past 10 years. I am not so sure what to make of it yet, time will tell.

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I've completed day two of smokelessness! This will be the last mention in any post, I will continue to denote the number below in the code thingy at the end. It's been a stressful nightmare so far, but I am keeping busy and have stopped drinking tea or coffee and immediately involve myself in a chore or project when I get home. I've also been trying to stay away from the PC as that was the time I MOST enjoyed smoking. Ok enough of that I am starting to crave one right now...

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Answers to yesterday's Four truths and a lie...

1. I am a registered Republican -- TRUE (don't get the wrong idea)

I registered to vote for the first time in 1992 and at that time my candidate of choice was good old Daddy George Bush. Do I need to go on? In any case I haven't voted Republican since that election and now that I am in a new town and need to re-register this will finally be "fixed".

2. I was once nearly kidnapped by Libyan terrorists -- TRUE (although Terrorists may not be exactly the correct word in this case)

When I was turned 20, my Gram paid for a months trip to Europe for my then girlfriend and I. My girlfriend had to back out after pressure from her parents and I went alone. I flew in and out of Zurich, Switzerland and kept much of my luggage stored there in the hotel which I would spend my first two and last two nights in.

On one trip west to Geneva, where I was to catch this super fast train to Paris (called the TGV) I met this Libyan student who convinced me that I must not miss sightseeing in Geneva (which I had originally chose to skip visiting for any length of time). I explained I had no hotel reservations (it was later in the evening) and he said he had some sort of connection at a hotel called The Geneve Cornavin. Being young and naive and alone (not to mention thrilled to find an English speaking person) I agreed. We took a taxi to the hotel after arriving and he took care of everything, even paid for my room. Now why in the hell wasn't I suspicious already?? He stayed there as well (in another room naturally) DESPITE having an apartment close by. He also rang up my room three times during the night to "make sure I was ok".

The next day he took me briefly around the city, and then to "visit his father" who was staying at The Hotel Intercontinental not far from The United Nations Building. His father was a high ranking official in the Libyan government (or so he claimed), and I was brought upstairs to meet him. He seemed very irritated and angry, but then again I had no idea what they were saying to each other. We left the hotel and proceeded to visit a friend of Louai's named Mohammad Khashoggi (who I later discovered was the son of this super-rich arms merchant who has currently has been tied to two of the 911 pilots not to mention Osama Bin Laden himself!). I remember the building he lived in was guarded by these frightening looking security men and we had to go through three doors before we reached his apartment. Once again I have no idea what they were talking about, but the kid (he was my age) seemed very friendly and hospitable.

After that we returned to The Hotel Intercontinental once again, and by this time I was starting to get nervous, we hadn't seen a single site and it was already lunch time. He brought me outside to this patio where they served lunch and ordered something for me to eat, disappearing to go back upstairs and speak to his father. I barely ate. He came back down and sat with me for about a half hour and then disappeared again, asking me to wait for him in the lobby this time. All I remember was that there were all of these Arab diplomats coming in and out of the lobby and my blood pressure was starting to rise. He came back down and said he needed to wait a bit longer for his father, never explaining exactly what this was all about. I had already made up my mind to get the hell out of there at his next exit.

When he left me yet again, I quietly grabbed my Gap travel bag, walked out the front door and boarded a bus (which was covered with my Eurail Pass) and headed to the train station. I couldn't get to Paris fast enough. Obviously I never contacted or heard from him again. I truly believe that I avoided something, this guy was getting kind of creepy toward the end and well, the Khashoggi connection has recently cemented my fears. I don't know if many of you remember but back in the late 80's early 90's Libya was very much our enemy and it's leader Muammar Khadafi a complete lunatic. Here I was hanging out with the son of one of his ministers!!! I was such an idiot.

3. I have had sex (any definition) once in the past two years. TRUE

I guess since my breakup in '03 I have pretty much avoided Bars and well the online thing is not so appealing either. I just haven't been interested in even dating until maybe the last 6 months, and the two people I did try to date grew boring quickly and I stopped answering their calls. Thank god there are other ways to relieve frustration not involving another warm body. :)

4. I once worked as a volunteer for a Mormon Church. TRUE

Shortly before finding my birthparents I began visiting our local LDS Family History Center in Bloomfield, CT. As some of you know the amazing genealogical resources of the Mormon Church are by far the largest in the world. I was in my late teens, had a car and impressed the Library's director so much she asked me to become a volunteer. I worked every other Saturday from 9-3 helping patrons utilize the library's microfilm catalog and ordering from Salt Lake. In time my duties included teaching classes on Italian and French-Canadian genealogy as well. I was there right up until my divorce, when I could no longer work weekends due to the fact that I now had my sons on the weekends (visitation). Once in a while I still go down there and they always ask when I will start volunteering again. Maybe some day.

5. I saw Nirvana at Springfield, MA in November of 1993. FALSE

While Nirvana did play The Springfield Civic Center in November of 1993, sadly I was not in attendance. I guess that is pretty much all I can say on this one. I wasn't there.

So... Scott, Daniel & Rob you were right! Good job!

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Laters :)

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