#✧ — ⋆ arizona & elio | 01

[freedcm]

It was refreshing to have someone be honest about how they were feeling, the cloying niceties that often felt put-on something she was glad to be rid of. "How does that saying go... misery loves company. Might be some truth to it after all." While leaving was also an option, it felt like the coward's way out, and Arizona knew she'd return to an empty room and feel miserable in her loneliness. At least here, with a stranger, she might not feel as alone. "Nice to meet you too, Elio. It seems as if your parents were a bit more creative than mine. They were on the road when I came early, driving through Arizona. Didn't even have a name prepared, so it was between that and Sedona." She hoped that her rambling would help ease the discomfort of talking to someone you barely knew at a party, rather than chase him away or make him uncomfortable. "And that's alright, turns out they weren't that good of friends to begin with. Probably better to figure that out now. How about you? Why are you all alone and in a bad mood?"

Elio was tired. Tired of this party, tired of the somewhat friends that had invited him, tired of his job that kept him too late today. Just tired. He was standing by a railing, watching the people mingle and dance while he nursed a drink. Weirdly he wasn't sad or anxious, just bored. There were so many better things he could do tonight, so why was he still here? Maybe because he was an idiot, who when told his ex might show up, panted like a dog at the idea. He broke up with her and yet the loneliness consumed him. As the night wore on, he talked to a few people, most of them put off by his melancholy. But then... "Oh sure, go ahead. Though I probably won't be good company. I'm in a bad mood honestly." He said, giving a rueful smile that he didn't feel. "I'm Elio, like the sun. Nice to meet you. Sorry your friends ditched you."

[buhkybrns]

editta sima relkin ( b. 1896 - d. 1931 ) ; yoysef-yona relkin left impoverished conditions in belorussia in 1886 , at seventeen years old , winding up in austria , working whatever manual labor jobs he could find. a job exporting textiles to neighboring italy allows him to meet elena lissitzkyi , an uprooted artist informally studying the trade , at a marketplace. when the rest of his crew leaves , yoysef decides to stay. he and elena are married in 1890 , yoysef 21 and elena 19 , and six years later their first child , Editta Sima Relkin , is born. editta primarily grows up in an italy in crisis – following it’s unification , there was a very large debt, few natural resources, and almost no transportation or industries , as well as high ratio of poverty and illiteracy. editta herself was taught by her parents , mostly how to work with her hands , to cook and to work with the land , how to sew and to smile her pretty smile like she’s not so keen as to cut , should you try her ; despite their determination , because of living conditions , yoysef & elena , like many others , are unable or unwilling to stay where they are , and make the decision to travel north , towards verona , through where yoysef hoped to return to austria the way he came. however , in july of 1918 , editta meets young soldier jim barnes stationed near lake garda. they were married there , and quickly – she youthfully endeared by his rickety italian and roguish smile and a desperate want to leave.

james barnes , sr. ( b. 1899 - d. 1934 ) ; jim barnes has had his feet firmly planted in the US his entire life – born in greenup , kentucky , he was raised by his paternal grandmother , maighread barnes [ née MacNuyer ] , his father gone off to northwestern canada like many others , and his mother too young to raise a child , really ( she comes around , though , off and on , like a friendly neighbor and he only really knows she’s his mother at all much later ). at his grandmother’s behest , he attended a boy’s school, where he left at age 13 , uninterested , his father’s spark in the back of his head. he’s 18 in 1917 , and he’s eager to the join the military , enlisting where he lands , fresh off the train. he finds himself at camp sherman for training , and then off to europe in june of 1918 – liverpool to southampton to france and turned around to italy. his regiment was first stationed near lake garda , where they were to train in methods of warfare suitable for the difficult mountain terrain. it is here , while her family is rounding the eastern bank of the lake on their way to verona , that jim meets editta. war brides were hardly uncommon , and he wouldn’t call her that , even if she fit under the umbrella. he can hardly speak italian , but she’s caught him , and though her parents are weary and wary , more than anything they want their daughter out of italy , so they smile and approve , and it’s no time at all before she’s off on a ship with so many other girls from across europe. — 01. When Editta comes through Ellis Island with all the other soldier’s girls ,  the first thing she does is westernize her name. Editta Sima Relkin becomes Edith Barnes – Eydie , if you’re a friend , and she smiles with her mouth closed , even though it’s a struggle to pry herself away from New York at all. see , Jim has got his daddy’s mind for bigger and better , and he’s got this whole idea about traveling westward , like something out of a novel , but mostly this means that they’ve ended up in the dusty foothills by 1919. 02. Jim doesn’t leave the army. he could have , but the fact of the matter is he’d only been in for two years , and it doesn’t feel like enough. it’s not that he’d enjoyed the fighting , exactly , but he’s only ever done odd jobs his whole life , and now that he’s got – that he’s hoping to have – a family to support , he’s not going to give up a steady pay. ( a decision they both would come to find as a relief , soon enough , when the army starts handing out pity jobs to struggling men during the Depression. ) 03. Eydie mostly refuses to speak English – she knows it , sure , being exposed to it on all sides , but it’s a little bit of pride and a stubbornness she’d learned from her own mother , like Jim was her hard limit. smiles sweetly at the Catholic church ladies that knock on their door , No, mi dispiace , ma non lo parlo. Jim mostly tells her to play nice , but she knows better – he likes well enough when she speaks italian. they’ve got their own sort of lingo , a back and forth mismatch of languages. 04. While it would maybe be easier to allow their family to wholly assimilate , the fact of the matter is Jim hasn’t been especially interested in the church since before he left home , and is more than content with the Barnes’ being a generally Jewish household. not that it would have mattered because that’s something Eydie wasn’t very willing to budge on. Jim primarily remained a more passive participant but was never wholly uninvolved. 06. Jim had an expansive imagination – he was always dreaming of going somewhere. something of an optimist , which Eydie found endearing , if sometimes frustrating. he was always half - way invested in the concept of simply travelling their entire lives – let’s pack up to California , to New York , to Texas or Arizona or Mexico , we could raise the kids in the backseat. Eydie was always a little more grounded , craved a stability that she’d never quite had when she was younger , wanted guarantees that her children would have , so they stayed , even if it wasn’t quite where either wanted ; Portsmouth was something of a middle ground. 07. Eydie’s death was both sudden and unexplained – no illness or known conditions as a precursor – and all the heavier on the family for it. while Jim had been toying with the idea of pulling out of the service , finally , almost 14 years under his belt , he instead turns to using it as a retreat. while he was never cruel to his children , or intentionally cold , his demeanor had noticeably shifted after his wife’s death. just three years after , Jim is killed during a parachuting exercise at Camp Lehigh. 

family

MOTHER:

Full Name: edith sima barnes.

Maiden Name: relkin

Nickname(s): eydie

Date of Birth: february 21 , 1896

Ethnicity: russian. ashkenazi jewish.

Occupation: seamstress. jack - of - all - trades.

Religion: jewish

Sexuality: heterosexual

Appearance:

Height: 5′7″

Weight: 136 lbs.

Hair Color: dark brown

Eye Color: hazel

Distinguishing Features: high cheekbones , squared jaw ; mole on the left side of the nose & under the right eye

Background:

Hometown: ancona , italy

Current Residence: portsmouth , ohio

Financial Status: working class

Education Level: informal

Father: yoysef-yona relkin

Mother: elena lissitzky

Siblings: elio relkin , liora relkin , feige relkin

FATHER :

Full Name: james buchanan barnes , sr.

Nickname(s): jim

Date of Birth: september 21 , 1899

Ethnicity: caucasian

Occupation: brickworks ( formerly ) . military.

Religion: non practicing presbyterian

Sexuality: heterosexual

Appearance:

Height: 5′11″

Weight: 185 lbs.

Hair Color: dark brown

Eye Color: blue

Distinguishing Features: broad forhead , scarring along his eyebrow.

Background:

Hometown: greenup , kentucky

Current Residence: portsmouth , ohio

Financial Status: working class

Education Level: formal until age 13

Father: merritt barnes

Mother: zadie davis       ( he is raised by Maighread Barnes [ née MacNuyer ] , his paternal grandmother )

Siblings: finlay barnes , matthew barnes , francis barnes

OTHER:

siblings: benjamin alfio barnes , rebecca noemi barnes