Rosa Ficara was
born in Scafati, Italy- one of nine children.
Oct 13, 2020
In 1973, despite
a bit of a language barrier, Rosa began a long-distance,
letter-writing romance with the love of her life, Gioacchino, who
brought her first to Connecticut, then to Yucca Valley, CA in the
early 80’s.
At
the age of seven, Rosa and two of her sisters were taken to a
convent to live with nuns because it was difficult for her mother
to take care of all the children. Rosa's mother visited weekly and
once Rosa turned 17, she was able to re-join the
family.
At
18, Rosa's sister-in-law had family friends living in Connecticut
who were friends with Gioacchino Ficara, a single Sicilian man. Her
sister-in-law sent him a picture of Rosa and they began talking and
writing letters. In March of 1973, Gioacchino went to Scafati to
meet Rosa with papers in hand with intentions to marry. Rosa's
family had a hard time understanding him because he spoke Sicilian
dialect but Rosa somehow understood him. On April 27, 1973 they
were married in Scafati and had their wedding photos in the ruins
of Pompei.
Gioacchino left to the U.S. to have immigration papers
in order. On August 15, 1973 Rosa flew to Connecticut to start her
American life with Gioacchino. In 1980, Rosa and Gioacchino left
Connecticut with their two daughters Rosa
and Carmela to start a new life
in the desert - Yucca Valley. Rosa and Gioacchino came to join
family Paolo (Gioacchino's brother), Pina his wife, and Rosa
(Gioacchino's mother). Eventually Ignazio (Gioacchino's yonger
brother) and his wife Roberta would move to Yucca Valley as well.
Gioacchino and his brother Paolo started Ficara Paving. Rosa and
Gioacchino had two more daughters, Maria Anna &
Jacqueline.
Life
in the desert was all about family, food and hard work. The first
few years were difficult because of the language. It got easier as
Rosa adapted and learned the language. It was different being in
the desert - so different from Connecticut and Italy. It took a
while to get used to it. In this
episode, Rosa tells
us when she arrived in Yucca Valley there was one grocery store, a
Safeway, that didn't even carry baby food or diapers.
Gioacchino worked hard with his brother. He passed away
in 2011 at the age of 68. It has been difficult for Rosa, as she
misses 'Jack' so much. Now a grandmother of five, Rosa continues to
cook and bake Italian food. Rosa continues to reside in Yucca
Valley, tending to her garden and her chickens and is the only one
of her nine siblings to have left Italy.