Marina Zurlo's father, Roberto, was Domenico Zurlo's older brother, but he remained
behind in Cerce Maggiore while his younger brother, our grandfather, left to seek his fortune
in the new world. Years later, Roberto's two children, Roberto and Marina, orphaned at very
young ages by the terrible epidemics that swept Italy, came to the United States and lived
for a while with the Zurlo family in Santa Rosa. Roberto, homesick, returned to Italy, while
Cousin Marina , always a self-reliant young woman, remained behind. As soon as she had
learned some English, she took a job as a seamstress in San Francisco, and was promoted to
a top position in the Elizabeth Arden Salon. She worked longs hours, saved her money and
in a about 15 years bought an apartment building on Clay Street in Pacific Heights. She
never learned to drive, and walked everywhere in "the city," which probably accounts for the
fact that now over the age of a hundred years she remains in remarkably good health.
Marina never married (or of if she did, it was only for "a minute"), and had no other family in
the U.S. other than the Santa Rosa Zurlo's, so we saw her on most of the holidays, such as
Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, when she would ride the bus up from San Francisco,
usually on the night before. At Christmas time, she would bring wonderful Marone chestnuts,
imported from Italy, and we would roast them and have them for dessert at Christmas Eve dinner.
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