Part 18 of My Stage32 Submission

Firstly, I have been busy and have not prioritized--e.g., made time for--writing out the family story. Secondly, I have found out a lot more to write down since the last time that I wrote--for example, incidentally (or not incidentally, depending on how you define "incidentally"), Dad did confirm the story regarding Vilmosz. Of course, he made excuses--e.g., how Great-Grandma had one kid (i.e., Grandaunt Helen), then two (Grandaunt Mary Ann), then three (Grandma) and so forth. Nonetheless--and even though the writing occured well after even Grandma was born, since the Nazis didn't invade then-Czechoslovakian and -Hungarian Slovakia until Grandma was three years old--, Dad confirmed that:

1. Women--or at least Great-Grandma Gaydos, even in the 30s and 40s--did have some control over the money after all.
2. Great-Granddad Gaydos was willing to let her help relatives, given--among other factors to consider--that he was a Jew himself, and but for the grace of G-d did Mihal Gajdosz and Katarina "Maria Uscianski" Uszinsky--not to mention his in-law parents--go.
3. Great-Grandma damned well knew what was happening in Europe and refused to help the family, anyway.
4. Among other factors to consider, there are good reasons why Tibor immigrated to Ohio--where other Rusznyaks had immigrated--instead of Pennsylvania--to where he may have immigrated had we not betrayed him and his side (and other sides) of the family--, and never talked to us.

I could go on, but you get the point. Meanwhile, I considered another factor, too:

"' 'Twas the night before Christmas, and...'"

Mass--if we went, anyway, though they did--and traditions about a Polish Catholic Christmas were--so to speak--thrown in there. There was not much--if anything--about the Bible. What we would do with "' 'Twas the night...'", though:

"' 'Twas the night before Christmas, and...'"

Pass the gift around.

"'The stockings were hung 'round the fireplace with care, and..."

Pass the gift around...

"And to all a good night."

Whoever had the gift after all of the "and"s, and the story concluded, got to keep the gift.

So much for Polish-Lithuanian and Czechoslovakian Catholics, huh? I mean, how much more secular for real--or actual--Polish-Lithuanian and Czechoslovakian Catholics can you get--especially, as Aunt Mary related to me one time, it was (as she learned the hard way during a phone call) about tradition and not Jesus?