The High Priestess in Full Manifestation
Discovering Telesford
I don’t even know where to begin, but I must apologize to my regular customers for my absence yesterday, and my sporadic availability right now. When you read this blog, I am sure you will understand why!
I am elated, joyful, overwhelmingly surprised and shocked. I am optimistic, happy, curious, and anxious and confused, all at the same time.
Those of you who are regulars know that I had a very special bond with my father, and some of you are aware that there was a great mystery surrounding my father’s natural father. It has been a family secret for 80 years, and yesterday, my dearest friends, IT WAS SOLVED!!!!!
I can’t say for sure, but this must be the feeling that adopted children feel when they find their birth parents after having given up hope, at least it’s highly similar!
All of my life, I did not know my true heritage on my paternal grandfather’s side. I knew that my paternal grandmother was English, from Yorkshire. I knew that my mother was one half Irish from Dublin and one half Czechoslovakian.
Do to the etymology of my father’s surname before it was changed, being “Delfino” we believed that we were Italian, (Sardinian) or Spanish in origin, but we had no way of knowing for certain.
Growing up in a small, northeastern U.S. “coal town”, we did not fit in as our gene pool evidently kicked out five very Mediterranean looking children when my parents produced us. Those around us were blonde, blue-eyed and not very open minded about diversity while growing up in the 60’s and 70’s and we were kind of “misfits”.
We,(including my father), were only told by our paternal grandmother that our biological grandfather was named Telesford Delfino and that he was a world champion light weight boxer under the name of “Pedro Campo” back in the roaring 20’s. She would give us no other information and she ostracized both my father and his children, having little to no contact with our family during my formative years.
She had another “husband” and three other children, dad was treated like the skeleton in the closet by that entire side of the family, as were we as his children. It hurt. It confused me as a child, but now, yesterday, a good deal of my questions were answered, the skeleton leapt out of the closet, and our family secrets were revealed!!!
It was 5:48 p.m. on August 11, 2008 when I was getting ready to log in to start taking calls, having had personal errands to run and experiencing a late start to my day when my phone rang, displaying a long distance number and a name I did not recognize. I could tell it was coming from a residential number and not a solicitor or business call, so out of curiosity I immediately (unlike my normal behavior, I usually let unknown callers go to voicemail), answered the phone.
A strange voice, friendly but seemingly a little uncomfortable to my ear said “Is this Bridget?” I replied yes. (At first I thought it was a client looking to schedule a session with me).
The voice on the other end of the phone picked up a notch in happy anticipation. She said, is this “Bridget Delfine”, again I affirmed. I could hear the smile on her face. She said, “I saw your post on the ancestry site I just joined three weeks ago, you are looking for your grandfather, Telesford Delfino?” Again, with my heart beginning to beat very fast, I said “Yes”.
She said, “Your dad is Kenneth Appleton Delfine (Delfino)?”, “Oh My God, Yes!”….body temperature rising, pulse beating out of my wrist! The voice was raising in excitement just as my emotions were too, and she said, “He is my grandfather too! I saw your post and we have been searching for you and for your dad all of our lives!!! “
She continued “My name is Alma, my mother’s name is Josephine, you had two uncles and another aunt and we have found our “SONNY BOY”!”
I was in shock and disbelief, how could this be? I had been chasing Telesford’s ghost for 30 years! I had found some obscure boxing statistics, but little else. Due to the etymology of the name, as stated, I had focused my search on the United States and Europe.
Alma continues, “My grandfather was married to Olive Appleton from Philadelphia and my grandfather could not find Sonny Boy, he had a picture of him when he was about three years old and he always sang the song “Sonny Boy” by Al Jolson. My mother and her brothers and sister have been searching for Sonny Boy for all of their lives and when I saw your post on the Ancestry site looking for descendants, I couldn’t believe it. The post was dated 1999 and you had a webtv email address, and I have been googling and googling to find you, I found your tarot site and kept searching and searching and I was hoping this was your phone number!”
I was flabbergasted!!!!
Telesford fell in love with Alma’s grandmother after he and my grandmother, Olive, separated and they had four more children together! I had more Aunts and Uncles and Cousins that I never even knew of! Alma said, “I saw your picture on your website, you look just like my cousin! Oh, you are my cousin! I have twin cousins!”
Alma proceeded to tell me that my grandfather was from the Filipines, he was born in Davao City and came to the U.S. to box in 1922. He met my grandmother, who was in her late teens, at that time. She was the reigning “Beauty Queen” of Philadelphia at that time. She told me that Telesford was born on January 5, 1901 and then she gave me HER MOTHER’S phone number in Canada! She was still alive! Only 61 years old! Her name is Josephine! My Aunt Josephine!!!!
I called Josephine and got even MORE information.
My grandfather had come looking for my dad after my grandmother Olive left the Filipines with him around 1930 when my dad was only five years old. Olive’s family told my grandfather that Olive was dead!!! They also stated that they had no idea where Sonny Boy was! LIARS!!!!! They knew right where he was!
Olive was protecting her second, ILLEGAL marriage!!! She never divorced Telesford! Telesford was a Filipino Catholic, there would be no divorcing! So she went and married her second husband anyway!
Huh, and WE were the BLACK SHEEP????
Oh, this is a BIG SKELETON!
No wonder she would never give us any information and there were no photographs! We were lucky we had dad’s birth certificate the way that woman covered her tracks!
Telesford, now believing Olive to be deceased, proceeded to marry Josephine’s mother, Alma’s grandmother.
Of course, now there has been a joyous exchange of familial photographs, and initial arrangements are being made for a meeting with my beautiful new cousin Alma and my Aunt Josephine (whom I somewhat resemble). How amazing to finally be able to identify a family resemblance that up until now, I could only see in my father and my siblings and children! None of my cousins on either my father’s nor my mother’s side have any real resemblance to us, we are very “Mediterranean” in appearance, I would assume that our ancestors in the Filipines are of Spanish descent due to the etymology of the name, and when I researched it further, it is a Castilian name in origin, which is why I was trying to find Telesford in Spain, never thinking to look in the Filipines, especially with his boxing moniker being “Pedro Campo”.
I have never seen a baby picture of my father, which I will add to this post once I upload it, etc., nor have I ever, ever seen a picture of my real grandfather, Telesford. The picture that Esel, Alma’s younger sister, also my cousin, has sent to me via email is from 1955, and although Telesford is in it, there is a crease across the picture, still obscuring his full face, so I am ever hopeful that they will forward more pictures where I can clearly see the man who was my grandfather and who searched his lifelong for his “Sonny Boy”, my father.
Esel also forwarded the picture of my father, age three years old! My son Justin is the spitting image of him!
I received pictures of Esel, Josephine and Alma as well!
Unfortunately, Dad, and his other three siblings have passed on, never reuniting with each other, and Telesford passed in 1976, a last attempt at finding my dad occurred in either the late 60’s or early 70’s, but he never gave up. Dad grew up thinking that his father did not want him or care what became of him, all because of one woman’s selfish need to bury a secret that she took to her grave with her.
Josephine wishes to visit Dad’s grave upon her visitation here, which I will surely see to, and I now have a new, beautiful, extended family that I am sure will take much of my leisure time learning about!
The High Priestess in Tarot is all about “Secrets Yet To Be Revealed” and this lifelong secret has now made itself known to me!
Performed by Al Jolson
Climb up on my knee Sonny BoyThough you're only three Sonny BoyYou've no way of knowingThere's no way of showingWhat you mean to me Sonny Boy.When there are grey skies,I don't mind the grey skies.You make them blue Sonny Boy.Friends may foresake me.Let them all foresake me.I still have you Sonny Boy.You're sent from heavenAnd I know your worth.You made a heaven For me here on earth.When I'm old and grey dearPromise you won't stray dearFor I love you so Sonny Boy.When there are grey skies,I don't mind grey skies.You make them blue Sonny Boy.Friends may foresake me.Let them all foresake me.I still have you Sonny Boy.You're sent from heavenAnd I know your worth.You've made a heavenFor me here on earth.And the angels grew lonelyTook you because they were lonelyI'm lonely too Sonny Boy.
All lyrics are property and copyright of their owners.All lyrics provided for educational purposes only.
