« Feeling a little Screwy! | Main | Musings of a monday »
11.19.2004 :: Blast from my past
Wave bye bye
To Tagboard! It's been having issues and slowing my site down, it hardly got used and to prove the point, no one noticed it was gone yesterday. Go ahead, wave it good riddance!
Blast from my past!
In lieu of any knitting, I have a story. :)
The last time I visited my Mom, she handed me a little bag with slides in it. Remember slides? I brought them to the photo store to get them converted to the 21st century and was delighted at what they contained!
This is a 3 year old me with my Great Gramma and Grampa Kucinskas, circa 1964. They were from Lithuania. According to family story, they escaped to the US through the iron curtain, which as a girl I imagined to be a huge bead curtain made of iron hanging at the gate of Lithuania. The only thing I know about their escape from Lithuania is that it was just that, with only the clothes on their backs. They never wanted to talk about it and their stories of history have now died with them.
They lived in Athol, Massachusetts in their own home. The American dream! Their only son married a woman who was not "one of their own" (she was a French Canadian immigrant) and this set up a family war of sorts. They wanted nothing to do with my Grandmother, Simone. This difficulty was exacerbated when their son, my mother's father, was killed on the job when my Mom was 10 years old. Seeing their granddaughter took on a bit more poignancy.
I remember as a girl visiting them, all dressed up in my finest. I had to sit in a chair and be quiet. I watched their cuckoo clock with great childlike interest, the crazy little cuckoo announcing how long I've been sitting there.
I remember Gramma's hugs were soft all encompassing. She would talk to Grampa saying strange words, fast and mysterious to me. In Lithuanian they would speak, back and forth, the words getting sharper and more forceful. Then they would go into their bedroom. I would hear the rustling of paper. Gramma always came out of her room holding a Dollar Bill. She would press it into my hand, "For you!" To me, it was riches beyond compare. Today I know that it really was a fortune to them. Money was important to people who had left everything behind and to Grampa, giving away one of his hard earned dollars was careless.
They are gone now, all that's left is this photo. But I remember that house in Athol like it were in front of my eyes now.
Richer than many dollars.
Posted by Sandy on 11.19.2004 AT 07:52 AM
Comments
I love family history stories. What a blessing to have those photos!
Posted by: Jean on 11.22.2004 AT 09:01 AM
Awwww, look at you!
Athol. The name of that town just CRACKS me up. Did you know the settler of the town had a lisp? ;)
Posted by: Kerstin on 11.20.2004 AT 10:18 PM
What a great photo and story! The dollar thing reminded me of when I was a little kid. Today I sort of gave back a little to some of those folks -- I just got back from visiting cemeteries to leave one last flower (Everyone got a rose.) before the winter snow arrives and stays for a while.
Posted by: Susan on 11.20.2004 AT 02:38 PM
What a wonderful story about two amazing people! Just as an aside, your great-grandmother looks a lot like my Polish great-grandmother. Thank you for sharing that.
Colleen
Posted by: Colleen on 11.20.2004 AT 12:35 PM
I love this story. Look how cute you are, little wee mushkin. I still have a great aunt and uncle, whom we jokingly call "The worlds oldest relatives". She still gives me a dollar at Christmas. I love it.
Ps. What is that hat your Great Gramma is wearing? Very cool.
Posted by: Stephanie on 11.20.2004 AT 11:16 AM
Thank you for sharing that story about your family.A picture can stir memories and bring them right back to life.
Posted by: Maureen on 11.20.2004 AT 10:43 AM
I noticed your Tagboard was gone, but knew it was having some serious issues. It's finally back up & running now.
Such a beautiful photo and story--those memories are so precious, aren't they?
Posted by: Kim on 11.20.2004 AT 09:24 AM
How sweet.
Hey, I didn't notice that you spiffed up the space, only noticed no more pop-up spam. I like what you've done with the place. But about that Iron Curtain, it really doesn't go with the decor.
Posted by: chris on 11.19.2004 AT 11:34 PM
Such a nice story, especially at this holiday/family time of year. I have loads of old family slides that would love to be appreciated. Did you have them transferred to DVDs? Was it expensive? Something I should look into.
Posted by: Jan on 11.19.2004 AT 11:11 PM
Sandy, Athol is a short drive from me. If you want a look at their house now, get me the address and I'll photograph it for you.
Posted by: Lynn on 11.19.2004 AT 08:53 PM
A lovely story. I love your story-telling abilities. Was Hemingway your father, or just an uncle? Thanks for the Formal Notice, since I don't like the way Bloglines keeps me out of the loop! I DID notice that your tagboard was down, but I wasn't sure if it was permanent, so I didn't say anything. Good riddance. How's Fig today? I'm wondering if he ran into an "assertive" female -- or did he run into something he THOUGHT was a female that turned out NOT to be? Oh, the stories we could come up with.......;-)
Posted by: Norma on 11.19.2004 AT 08:02 PM
Thank you for sharing such a wonderful story.
Posted by: monica on 11.19.2004 AT 07:43 PM
What a treasure to have pictures of the past that evoke good memories.
Posted by: margene on 11.19.2004 AT 06:22 PM
What a great story! They must have been very strong people.
Posted by: Jackie on 11.19.2004 AT 05:38 PM
What a sweet story. It brought tears to my eyes. :O) T hanks for sharing.
Posted by: Jamie on 11.24.2004 AT 07:52 PM