Floyd W. Hayden and his wife, Giuseppina Benenati (“Pina”), moved from the Los Angeles area to Cagliari, Italy in May of 1969. Pina was originally from Catanzaro, Calabria. Floyd (“Bill”) had met Pina on the beach when he was stationed in the Coast Guard outside of Catanzaro in 1963. They rendezvoused with a chaperone at one point in Napoli and continued to correspond with letters and audio tapes while each started to learn each other’s language. The final stage of the courtship was a chaperoned trip to Firenze with Pina’s father, followed shortly thereafter by their wedding in Catanzaro on February 19, 1967.
Their son Joseph was born in California and while they lived in Sardinia, their second son, Charles Italo, was born. By the time they flew back to live in the San Francisco Bay Area, Pina was nine months pregnant with Maria Sabina, born shortly after their arrival and purchase of a home in Hayward.
While in Sardinia, they made friends with Canadians like the Ughettes and locals, including the Martucci and Urraci families.
During their time in Sardegna, many of the relatives from Calabria came to visit and even help out, including Pina’s sister, Marisa, shown in many of the pictures.
