WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – Raised on opposite ends of the western hemisphere, Anthony Bova is in Watertown and Ray Costancio in Brazil.
They are bringing flowers to a common relative: Innocenza Costanzo Grossi.
“I mean, I’m 65-years-old, and it is incredible to experience this,” said Bova.
After both doing some digging on their family’s name history, Constacio found some connections in the North Country.
He then contacted Bova via the messaging app Whatsapp a year ago.
And with a work trip to New York coming up, the perfect opportunity to finally connect face to face.
“We’ve been talking in Whatsapp ever since, just about every single day, our hearts have beaten together for quite a while,” said Bova.
But how did the Italian family name Constanzo, or Costancio, branch out to Brazil and Watertown?
Innocenza Costanzo, Anthony’s grandmother, immigrated to the U.S. in the early 1900′s, while Michele Costanzo, her brother migrated to Brazil.
That is Ray Costancio’s great-grandfather.
“I knew that someone from our family from Italy came to the U.S., so I looked up Costanzo in the U.S., so came up my great aunt,” said Costancio.
Anthony says he knew he had some family in Brazil, but when he attempted to find them he didn’t succeed.
“I’ve been doing ancestry type of things for my family for a number of years. I’m really interested in trying to get the background for my grandparents and how far they went to Italy,” said Bova.
Now reunited, they share family pictures and look for a family resemblance.
“One of the pictures of my uncle’s ten children, I showed it to one of my cousin’s the other day, and says this looks like my sister Barbara,” said Bova.
A piece of an ancestry puzzle finally filled.
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