FINALLY REUNITED

The recent movie “Letters to Juliet,” filmed in Italy, tells of lovers separated for 50 years. Though it’s considered a “woman’s movie,” it has special meaning for Jim Cashero, Commerce City, Colo., because he was separated from his birth mother for an even longer period.

The two had a joyful reunion in August after years of searching for each other.

Cashero was born Roberto Andranni on Oct. 9, 1958 in Torino, Italy, the son of Clementina Tibaldi, and placed in an orphanage for adoption. Mike “Mickey” and Dorothy Cashero, who owned Mickey’s Chicken restaurant in Scammon, designated him for adoption.

“They started the adoption process through Catholic Social Services, which I believe is now known as Catholic Charities,” Cashero said Friday in a telephone interview. “They wanted to adopt a son and one was sent from Italy, but for some reason, when that child got to New York they wouldn’t let him into the United States and he was sent back to Italy. My parents were so heartbroken that it was a year before they could even think about going through the process again.”

But, finally, the Casheros did try, this time designating a son and a daughter. Little Roberto made it into the country, was adopted and became Jim Cashero. Unfortunately, the little girl who would have been his sister was sent back to Italy.

“I was raised as an only child,” Cashero said. “My dad had started out with a restaurant in Joplin, then moved to Scammon. Mickey’s Chicken was located at the corner of 102 and 7.”

Sadly, his adoptive mother died from a heart disorder when she was 47 and he was only 8. Mickey Cashero died when his son was 24.

Cashero attended Pittsburg High School and briefly went to Pittsburg State University before he left Pittsburg when he was 20. He’s been in Commerce City for the past six years, and works as a sales representative for Shell Lubricants.

“I had never considered looking for my birth mother until June 18, 1995,” Cashero said.

He believes that God spoke to him on that day, telling him that he should search for her.

“The words I heard were ‘She’s heartbroken and misses you every day’,” Cashero said.

His search included a trip in October 2009 to Italy.

“I had been on the road from Pisaio to Asti, and went by the Cherasco area, which is where Mama Clementina lives,” Cashero said. “I was within a mile of her house then, and didn’t know it.”

A friend who lives in Torino suggested that I file in court to find my birth family, and she took care of the filing for me,” Cashero said. “Coincidentally, the family had filed in the same court one month earlier to find me.”

He learned that his mother had made efforts over the years to find her first-born son, and had finally revealed to her family that he existed.

“She has a wonderful husband of 36 years and a 32-year-old son, Davide, who was also raised as an only child,” Cashero said. “When he learned that he had a brother somewhere, he said, ‘Let’s find him.’ At that time, only her husband and two surviving family members had known about me.”

“My friend in Italy attended the court hearing and on June 14 sent me an e-mail saying ‘Good news, we found your mother’,” Cashero said. “The same words were used, ‘She’s heartbroken and misses you every day’.”

Only days after undergoing cataract surgery, Cashero and his wife, Dixie, flew to Italy and met his mother, his brother, and the brother’s wife, Sandra, and children Giorgio and Elisabetta, as well as other relatives.  Mama Clementina learned that she had three granddaughters from Cashero, along with a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter on the way.

“There were many hugs and kisses on both cheeks upon our arrival,” Cashero said.

His new brother and family took the Casheros on a trip that included Verona, Milan and Venice. They attended the opera in Verona, visited Juliet’s balcony, and went on to Venice and the islands of Murano, known for its production of exquisite glass items, and Burano, which is known for lace. Many of these sites, Cashero said, were also featured in the movie “Letters to Juliet.”

“When the full moon rose over the Arena di Verona, it was hard to imagine that it was not staged just for my wife Dixie and me on our 11th anniversary,” he said.

Cashero, his mother and other family member now communicate regularly via snail mail, e-mail and Facebook.

“Davide, Sandra and their family will visit the United States for the first time in February,” Cashero said. “They plan to ski and they’ll be visiting us at our home in Colorado.”

He cherishes photos of his new-found family, especially Mama Clementina, and noted the strong physical resemblance they have.

“From looking at that, you can tell I couldn’t be anyone else’s son,” Cashero said. “I was just supposed to find her.”