Merry Christmas!

I hope all of you have an excellent Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

Calling All Hellers!

Jodi Heller, one of my fabulous cousins, sent the picture above. I wish we lived closer to them because I think we'd all have a lot of fun together. The photo includes Sheila, Grandma Honey/Aunt Evelyn, Tom , Peter, Kathryn, George, Stephen, and Jodi. 

Bob and his camera

Here's my dad getting ready to take the famous group photo after last year's Christmas Eve celebration in NJ. Thanks to him we have group photos of the family going way, way back. 

Amy in Australia

I don't have many pictures of relatives from my dad's side of the family. Do you have any pictures (historic or recent) that you'd like to share with everyone? You can send them to me or post them yourself!

The one above is of my sister Amy in Australia. She just returned from her six-month study abroad. I can't wait to see her!!

Nerozumiem po slovensky

Though my grandma and grandpa spoke slovak, I never really learned it. Grandma taught me a few things from time to time, such as "how are you," "teeth," "bicycle," and "good." Oh, and as I mentioned before I know the grains that she counted on my toes when I was a baby. I don't think these will get me too far if I visit the village where they came from. 

In case you are interested I found a couple of websites that have the basic Slovak phrases. Here is one called BratislavaGuide.com. Also, here is some information about Slovakia as well as a phrase book from Wikitravel.com. I don't know much about it, so I enjoy doing some research from time to time.

Does anyone else know of any good sites about Slovakia or information about its culture? I'd love to learn more and maybe others would, too! Please post them below or send them to me via e-mail.

The Old House

For me, The Old House is like a member of the family. I grew up hearing stories about it from almost everyone in the family as they all had lived there at one point. I loved to drive by it from time to time to see how it changed because it made me feel like I had a relationship with the house, too. Often I would hear stories about its new owners, The Kowlenkos, and their business. Though they sold the house in the 60s, the house remains a distant relative. The memory stays alive partially because the house is now a funeral home and many of our relatives and friends who still live in the area are buried out of it. 

When Grandma Elsie passed away, I met all of her friends and relatives and learned more about my grandmother as a person. I heard stories about her youth when she was being courted by my grandfather. Some of my relatives lived in the house with her and shared stories about how she covered up for them when they misbehaved from time to time. Suddenly, I saw her as a woman and not just my grandmother. 

At that time, I had just finished journalism school and wanted to use my new skills to find out more about the house's history.

I contacted former neighbors and friends and relatives and dug for information about the house to create my article. I interviewed the Kowlenkos and the new funeral director, James DeMaio. The first draft was really bad, but I wanted someone to read it to help me improve it. So, I showed it to my cousin Jeff who suggested that I try to write it in the first person in the style of M.F.K. Fischer. 

I followed his advice and I rewrote the story and submitted it to the paper. To my surprise, they accepted it and asked me to send photos. My dad had photos of my grandmother at the house on her wedding day. We also took a digital photo of picture of the house (which dated back to the early 1900s) that my grandmother had hanging in her bedroom. 

My friend Erica, a photographer, went with me to the house to photograph it with James. One of her photos is above. (Photo Credit: Erica Staton, 2003) I sent everything into the paper and waited for it to be published. When the article came out a few months later, I was so excited to have created a tribute to my grandmother and The Old House.  

 

Welcome to the family website!

 Growing up, my grandmother told me stories about her Pop (my great-grandpa) and all the challenges and struggles he endured to come to the United States. Luckily, I hear that he was a smart and adaptable man and was able to adjust well to the U.S.

She tried hard to keep our Slovak culture alive despite the fact that we were so far away.  She and my grandfather spoke the language at home and also when she didn't want me to know what she was saying. She sang to me in Slovak and counted the grains of wheat in Slovak on my toes (just like "This Little Piggy Went to Market"). She also cooked various dishes for us, especially lenten meals that had no meat. 

At Thanksgiving, Aunt Kathryn showed me the photos from the trip that Kitch and Patty took to meet our extended family in Europe. It's so exciting that they were able to find our family and to meet them. The photos show the castle where my great grandfather worked and the previous generations of our relatives.

I created this blog because I thought it would be a great way we could share memories, photos and stories about our day-to-day lives. It's easy to sign up and post pictures and text. It only takes a few minutes. In addition, this is a "team blog" so anyone who wants to can post as well as comment. All you need is an email from blogger that grants you permission. If you send me a message, I can do that for you.

Love,

Heather