The Andrews' House in Bridgewater, NJ

I have so many memories of my grandparents' house in Bridgewater, NJ.  Though my grandmother left it a decade ago, I can still remember where every piece of furniture was. I walk through the hallways in my dreams from time to time. The kitchen was the heart of the house remains the most vivid for me. I spent countless Sunday nights there, eating roast beef, green beans and mashed potatoes. Usually there would be chocolate eclairs and napoleons for dessert. 

The house is a ranch style, which means everything is on one floor. It had all the basic stuff -- kitchen, dining room, three bedrooms and one bathroom. It was the attic and the basement that both intrigued and scared me. I loved it when grandma would take me to the basement and let me ride my big wheel bicycle around in cycles while she hummed and cheered me on. Life was pretty simple then. 

The house itself was fun, but the outside was even better. The house was surrounded by what we cleverly called "The Woods." As a kid, I loved the woods and would do everything in my power to get my parents or grandparents to walk there. My grandmother would sometimes ask me if I wanted to walk up the mountain and I would always eagerly agree.

A few walks in the woods stand out in my memories. One fall, my grandma decided that we would make decorations out of leaves pressed between wax paper. We collected all different colored leaves outside. Then we arranged them on wax paper and ironed them in the basement. 

The more exciting walks in the woods were with my father or my cousins. They knew were all the cool stuff was. One of them took me to see an old tree house built years ago. It looked like it was an excellent place at one time -- it even had wall-to-wall carpeting in some garish red or orange. I longed to climb up there and walk around in the little house, but the floor was sinking. Even though I yearned to go inside, even I knew that it was impossible. 

Another time, my father and my uncle took me to the waterfall. He didn't tell me where we were going. It was a long walk up a steep hill on a rocky path. I remember being small and tired, but I really wanted to see what he wanted to show me. I remember being amazed that this waterfall wasn't too far from grandma's house. We walked back to the house as the sun was setting and I listened to my dad and my uncle trading stories about work and taking care of the house. 

PICTURED: My family in front of my grandparents' house around 1979. (Back Row: Aunt Kathryn, my mom, me, genevieve, grandma elsie; Front row: Uncle Jim, my dad, Mark, Grandpa Jules.

Introducing Katka's Parents

Katka sent me a couple of photos recently. It was so fun to see more pictures of the rest of our family in Budimir. The last post contains some of them. 

In this post, I'd like to introduce Katka's parents (above). Some of you have already met them. Just in case you forgot, her mom was a Biacovsky just like my grandma was. They are pictured in front of what looks like a castle or the ruins of one. 

Katka's dad and her sister published a book about the history of Budimir. Patty and Dave have it and are trying to translate it into English. I look forward to seeing the book!

More Biacovsky Descendents

I am learning more and more about our family in Budimir through Katka. She is really fun to correspond with. It's really fun to learn more about life in Slovakia and about the family. It's really amazing to think that my great-grandfather grew up in the same place where she is living now. 

There is so much history in her town. It's fascinating to see it now, especially after hearing all the stories my grandmother told me about it.Katka sent us some pictures of her grandmother Alzbeta and her grandmother's sister and brother. They are all descendents of the Biacovsky family. Her siblings are Katherine and Andrew.

Of course, my grandmother never saw it, but she learned about it through my great-grandfather's stories of his youth. I can't even imagine what it must have been like for him to leave Budimir and head for the U.S. not really knowing what it would be like or what was going to happen to him. I believe he started in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where my grandma was born and then moved to New Jersey when my grandmother was little. They lived in two different houses there, but only briefly in the first house.

There was a little rock in front of the first house where they lived in New Jersey and it apparently marked a place where George Washington passed. As a little girl, my grandmother would show "Here's where Washington passed!" to the few cars that passed by at that time.  It's hard for me to imagine her as a little girl, but stories like that one help to paint a picture of her as a child.

The only connection I had until we were introduced to Katka and her family were the food my grandmother made at the holidays and for special occasions and a couple of stories of when her father went back to Slovakia to visit the family. My

grandmother talked of some very tall cousins, which is apparently why my dad is so tall. She also spoke of us being related to the "Town Crier." 

She told me that my great-grandfather was a very good gardener. I learned later that he took care of the gardens of a castle or some large building. At his house in NJ, he proudly tended to his gorgeous garden. He loved plants and trees.

Each bit of information that we find out brings me closer to better understanding where my family comes from.