Family Ties in Poland

About 4 months ago I was in Kraków, Poland and my e-mail stopped working. When I finally was able to log on I found a message from my Polish cousin saying that she had some business to take care of in another part of the country. She asked if I could come the week after I had planned to do so. I had reserved a trip to the Western Balkans for that week, so I was not able to. Everything still worked out. We picked a week in mid-November for my visit, and I kept my self busy visiting a friend in Slovakia during the week we had originally discussed.

A few months went buy. As the time of my visit neared I realized that this would be the first time that I would be going to the region where my ancestors actually came from. I also knew that this would be the first time I would be visiting Poland in the winter. My mother had worked as a correspondent in the country during marshal law. She always repeated a saying that winter life there was "gray, sad and hard," so I was curious but also felt some trepidation.

My plane departed Budapest's Franz Liszt Airport for Warsaw's Chopin air terminal. Then a bus 6 hours northeast to to the town of Suwałki near the Lithuanian border. My cousin(I call her this for simplicity's sake) Marzanna, her husband and brother met me at the station and drove me along dark road to the family's deary farm in Kowale Olekice.

I met Marzanna and her husband the year before in Lubliń, but this was my first time meeting her entire family. I was immediately welcomed by all of them. It was late so I quickly went to sleep.

The following morning we returned to Suwałki to search for my ancestors in the local archives. Marzanna's mother explained to me that this is no easy task. When my great-grandfather left for America, Poland was still partitioned between Austria,Germany and Russia. The former

border ran through the area and my ancestors apparently lived on both sides of it. While they have found many of my his brothers and sisters, my great grandfather has yet to turn up in the records. Next we traveled to Sidory Zapolne, where my elusive ancestor had been born. It was amazing to stand on the exact spot where an important part of my American family's history had begun. During my time in Suwalszczyzna I also visited the monastery at Wigry, where the Pope used to enjoy visiting.

Over the next few days I got to meet many of my Polish family's other members. There were so many that it would be impossible to mention them all in this post, so here are some of the highlights. Each meeting was accompanied by what I only define as a feast. "Andrew, Jedz!"(Eat, Andrew!) became a pleasant refrain for much of the trip. Almost all of the food and drink was homemade. During my five days in the area I began to gain an appreciation for the wisdom of a product being 'swojej roboty', or from your own work.

I Especially enjoyed discussing the differences of the U.S. and Polish educational systems with Marzanna's sister's daughter, and gaining a new perspective on history of the region from My

cousin's Lithuanian grandfather -- over homemade vodka.

During five day visit with my family in Mazury, I felt truly welcomed. When it was time to go, I was given a bag full of homemade sandwiches, and told that they wanted me to return. While the sky was a bit gray, life is no longer hard and anything but sad. I was truly impressed by the beauty of the land my forebarers came from. All that is left to say is thanks again to all who made my time there so amazing. As we discussed, Next summer, I shall return.