Before marrying Guiseppe Lombardo, Maria Rizzo was married to another man in Marsala, Italy. She had a child with him but the child died at birth. Maria was so upset that she cried and cried and eventually went to the orphanage to see if she could get a child. Giacamo (born in 1897) was an infant and Maria was still able to nurse him from her recent childbirth. At the orphanage, the birth mother and the adopted mother were both given a piece of ribbon. If the 2 pieces of ribbon matched, then the birth mother could take back the child. Maria became so attached to Jack that she destroyed the ribbon so he wouldn’t be taken from her. Shortly after this, her first husband was killed by a horse drawn cart. She then married Guiseppe Lombardo and Jack became their adopted child.