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?

Part 17 of My Stage32 Submission

While I'm waiting for Bill O'Reilly to come on KABC, I finally have--and have made--time to continue with the anecdotes about Pop-Pop--as I stated, you should see a clear picture emerging. By the way, how often do you get to follow the writer through his or her writing process as he or she is writing? As I'm telling my family story--and indeed, now it can be told (since, after all, Dad claims to he has nothing--or mostly nothing--to hide)--, I also want you to follow my day-to-day--or however-frequent--writing process. Of course, the editors are going to have a heck of a time and process with what I notice already has some inconsistencies in terms of writing style, etc..

Anyway, another anecdote--and one that proves that the family were not even just secular Polish-Lithuanian Catholics. By the way, what compelling reason would Aunt Mary have to lie--which I've asked Dad himself--about anything? Aunt Mary's--and likely Dad's and Uncle Gary's--first knowledge about God and Jesus:

"God damn it, Joan."

"Jesus Christ, Jack--the neighbors will think you're crazy."

And then came the closing of the blinds and chasing around the house. By the way--as I've discussed before--, Aunt Mary was not named for the Virgin Mary--she was named for her grandmothers, Mary Trudniak Czarnecki and Marysia "Mary" Rusnak Gaydos. Also, her name was "Mary Joan"--and Grandma (going against her and Pop-Pop's agreement) deceitfully slipped "Joan" onto the birth certificate--her name was originally going to be "Mary".

So much for Polish Lithuanian--and (in Grandma's case) Czechoslovakian--Catholics, huh? 

Part 16 Of My Stage32 Submission

As the old saying goes, "Now it can be told."--and in this case, I add that I frankly do not care how much trouble I get into. I talked to my dad recently--and yes, I am trying to reconcile with my dad--, and I sadly heard only accusations that Aunt Mary has "mental problems" and is actually angry that Pop-Pop did not preserve Great-Grandma's life with extreme measures. Nonetheless--if Dad is to be believed--, that medical records indicate that Great-Grandma was "bleeding from the rectum" only confirm that Aunt Mary wtanted exactly what Great-Grandma wanted--that is, for Great-Grandma to die at home as Great-Grandma herself requested.

As for Aunt Mary having mental problems, I can assure you that--based on other stories which I have heard and experiences that I have had--Aunt Mary has no mental problems whatsoever. As I stated, Great-Grandma Czarnecki's murder will become important when I jump back to how Pop-Pop treated others--and so I jump back.

By the way, Grandma laughed when telling the following anecdote. When she and Pop-Pop were dating--in the 1950s, when dating was much more exclusive than it is now--, Pop-Pop took someone else to a New Year's dance when Grandma could not go to the dance due to a curfew that her mom set. Why Grandma would, meanwhile, I do not know--whether she was nervous or hiding pain behind laughter, or actually thought that it was funny is left up to my best guess at this point. Nonetheless, it showed me that Pop-Pop would not bother to wait for his girl or just enjoy the time with friends instead of cheating on her.

As for another anecdote--besides the "those" anecdote--, I myself experienced this one:

Pop-Pop: "...and the Orientals--"

Dad: "Asians, Dad!"

Pop-Pop: "Anyway, the ASIANS..."

I do not buy that a former IRS Agent and Crypto Jew did not know better or just slipped up--after all, his brother Tony deliberately (as I found out later) deliberately moved away from Sugar Notch to (in part) escape the racism and lack of diversity there.

As for another self-experienced anecdote:

Pop-Pop: "There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq"

Dad: "The weapons were moved to Syria"

...

Dad: "You can't change history, Dad!"

Hold on for more anecdotes--and did I not tell you that Great-Grandma's murder is important in light of how Pop-Pop treats others? See if you can see a clear picture emerging.