Sunday, November 28, 2010

More Progress on the 1917 Letter.

Researching my Grandfather's history is like working a puzzle. I make a little progress, I keep searching, I find new pieces, I evaluate whether the pieces fit.


Such is the case with my Grandfather's letter to his parents in Russia. When I started working on this project, I didn't even know his parents lived in Russia. The envelope actually was addressed to Russia, but I didn't know exactly what I was looking at! Both my Grandfather and Great-Grandfather were named Jan. However, I had assumed that someone had added my Grandfather's name to the front of the envelope when the letter was returned to Nebraska. I never initially considered that my Grandfather Jan was named after his father Jan in Russia.


I keep going back to to this letter to get more information - and get it right. It was obviously important to my Grandfather, because he kept the letter for his lifetime (and beyond.) Did he envision that it could be useful to someone, someday? Did he think the connection to his family could eventually be restored? Some day, when I can access the correct databases in Russia/Ukraine, I will have more pieces of the puzzle to use in my search for the whole picture.


With each attempt at a better translation, I am coming closer to the facts. With the latest translation from Reverend Jan Dus, Grandfather sends his greetings to Eduard and Josef. I don't know if these are friends or family, but they must have been important people in his life -- Grandfather named his oldest son Edward and his youngest son Joseph. His middle son John Stanley is, apparently, John Zvolanek III.


Bit by bit, I also become aware of how my Grandfather was feeling about the path he chose in life. Today I learned this:


Dear parents, I think of you and Russia a lot. I recall how I lived there and grew up there, where I walked .... I will never forget about the village I grew up in. I will never forget anything until the end of my life. Dear parents, with a great joy, I ask you not to forget about me as I can promise I will never forget about you.