Geri Guinn knew she came from a large Italian family; that much was clear. Growing up in Chicago with her parents and two sisters, she lived near her aunts, uncles and paternal grandparents, Pietro and Crocifissa Congiu, who had immigrated to the United States from Italy in the early 1900s. Although her grandparents only spoke Italian, weekly spaghetti dinners were loud and boisterous, and the family was close-knit.

But as she got older, Geri always wondered what had become of the other part of the family – the siblings and extended family that Pietro and Crocifissa had left behind when they’d moved to America. As far as Geri knew, her grandparents were the only ones who had ever left Italy.