Husband and wife Chris and Alana Loreto first traveled to Italy in search of their Italian roots in 2014. That very special trip took place in Abruzzo, where Chris’ maternal grandparents came from. They were both from the tiny village of Ofena and immigrated to Timmins, Canada, separately in the 1930s. Their marriage was arranged, but they didn’t know each other in Ofena.    

“Their story always intrigued us as they said they never knew each other while living in Ofena, yet it is such a small village,” Alana recalls. “We could not understand how they didn’t know each other… until we visited the village. Nonna was from near the top of Ofena in a much poorer section, and Nonno was from near the base of the village.”