We start to drive, Richard says he will be outside waiting; (Nika tells him to go inside it’s dark and cold outside) they say turn at the Mary, so I see one on the left, we turn around but it’s the wrong one. This brings back memories of travels around PL and how the marries are markers like street signs, go after, around part, look for the Mary…so we were.
We find the big cross, I guess not a Mary and left right we are driving slowly and 2 people are walking to the side. We roll down the window and in my strange Polish I ask where is the Brzozowski Dom (Home) and she says I’m Brzozowka!! I started to cry and we hugged each other from the car (this was Helena, Richard’s mom, and also Josef, one of Richards Brothers. Family!
We drive to the house and I get out of the car, I thanks and give Richard a big hug and kiss, - to people I don’t even know but are distant family.
We go inside, up the stairs into their sky bright blue living room. Teresa is there, Richards’s wife and she gives Nika and me a big hug. It’s like a dream.
I give them a box of chocolates, and a bag with note cards and a Christmas Ornament in it. They say thank you and put it a side.
Sitting at the Table:Sitting at the table and I don’t really know what to do so I pull out my file/folder with my family chart information and show them more how we are related.
Richards’s wife says later we can look at photos and stuff but now we must eat!!
So then the gomomki came out and of course I need to explain that I’m veggie and don’t eat meat. So I explain. And then Nika eats in inside - meat and I eat the outside - the cabbage. I normally would not do this but I felt I had to do it, so I did.
I’ve been veggie for about 20 years I explain and they are very surprised. Why, how,…
Eating went on for a long, long time, like hours, (the whole time we are there) I guess it’s a sort of way to break the silence and unfamiliar, the newness all around.
Teresa really wants to cook me something else I kept saying I’m o.k. But she really insisted on cooking me something else. So, noodles and milk it was. Something really basic that I’ve never had before. It’s pretty common the PL countryside. It was good. Really nice. I ate that and then she still wanted us to eat more cakes and cookies. She said this one was called “American” cake. Not sure how it was but it was good. As we ate and talked and asked each other our ages and showed off photos and laughed and smiled a bunch.
I ask where the bathroom is after drinking so much amazing Rose Herbata (tea) and Teresa says she is sorry but it is outside. No worries I said. She gets her flashlight; we walk down the stairs, outside and to the back, to a barn and in a couple doors until the toilet. I can’t see anything its dark as dark, I say that to Teresa and she shines the light on me. Talk about an intimate exchange. We just met a couple hrs before and how we are in the bathroom basically together just a little bit of the door the is between us.
Done.
We walk out and I ask in my Polish if they have any animals, chickens perhaps? She points to me a beautiful looking rabbit. I’m petting it and realize that this rabbit is not just a pet, its meat for probably the holidays. I breathe, and know this life is so different then mine.
We walk back in the dark arms interlocked, up the stairs and eat some more.
Daughters:Richard went out and got 2 of his daughters. They are about 33 and 28 years old. They have kids about 2 each I think ranging from about 3-13 years old. We give each other hugs and kisses and talk a bit again with help from Nika with translation. They ask how old I am and are surprised that I’m 31. They say I look younger, I guess I do. I think it’s the way I dress and my life style. Its pretty amazing how our lives and in a way lined out for us, or the circumstances we are born into. Why is this? Also in the same family?
We all talk about how we are related again, so Richard is my 2nd cousin once removed.
My mom and Richards grandparents were siblings. Alexandra Brzozowski and Teofil Brzozowski.
We talk more and then another sister appears the youngest and she looks like my sister Leigh Alexandra – named after my great grandmother Alexandra.
We all have dark hair and dark eyes. I would always ask my mom how are we Polish, are we really Polish? Most Poles I’ve met have lighter hair. But, we have dark. They say we must be family!
Helena mentions she remembers getting packages from the states from family. This must have been a long while back. My mom remembers family sending packages, or at least remembers her mom saying they did.
I remember my great grandmother like a dream, sitting on her lap in Southgate Michigan as a small baby gal.
They asked me how I got interested in looking for family?
Are my parents still living?
Where do I live?
On the coach we sit and talk more and eat more. I share some note cards I made with children with cancer in Warsaw Hospitals. They are seasonal cards and we guess which season they are for!
We chat more and giggle and it’s getting late so Nika and I say we must go. They really want us to stay longer but we have a hotel and need to get back. Maybe in the Spring I say. We’ll see you tomorrow at 11am, meeting at the house, I would like to take a few photos in the daylight, then to the cemetery before church at 12noon. We explain we have to leave right after church for Warszawa. Teresa really want us to stay longer but we can’t. Tonight or tomorrow.
What a day in a different reality. What is reality anyway?
No comments:
Post a Comment