The boys got a special treat today. What they call their little hummies visited them at breakfast this morning.
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Sunday, January 29, 2017
My Family History
In the spirit of really trying to better understand the life of other people in this country and maybe reflect on my own life as well, I want to share this story of one part of my family.
This is the Grandmother Jele (Helen) Eva Tomasevich
Bogunovich Puz and her story of how she came to the United States. I challenge
all of you to do the same. Share your families story. I am not going to insert
any of my political views and I suggest you do not comment them here our insert
them into your own story. Just go to your page and tell your families story
too. #myfamilystory
Helen’s story begins in Bacina, (Bah Chee Nah) Croatia, with
the coming together of her father Mate Bogunovich and her mother Mande
Tomasevich. Like many young men of that time, Mate had gone to America in
search of a better life. In about 1911, he returned to the Bacina, now
searching for a wife which he found when he reconnected with the lovely Mande
who had grown up while he had been gone.
When Mate left for America again, promising to send for
Mande when he had earned enough money for her passage, he did not know she was
pregnant with their child. Back in Montana, Mate was working in one of the many
coalmines. He was anxious for his little family to join him and when he had
saved enough money, he sent for them. In 1914, right as World War I was
beginning, Mande said goodbye to her family & friends in Bacina and set
out for America.
The passage on the ship was difficult and frightening. By the time they sailed into New York Harbor and landed on Ellis Island, baby Helen had a severe diaper rash. The rash nearly sent them back to Bacina, but after several days in quarantine with better facilities, the rash cleared up and they were free to leave Ellis Island and on to Butte, Montana.
Traveling by train in a foreign country, speaking no
English, Mande had no idea how far she had to travel or how many days it would
take to get to Montana. Pinned to her dress was her ticket that trailed down
her front. As the train rolled across the country, the conductor would tear off
a stub at each stop. Her only way to know that she was getting closer to her
destination was the ever decreasing length of that ticket. When the last stub
was taken, she knew her next stop was Butte where Mate would be waiting.
But Mate wasn’t waiting or at least she didn’t see him. For
a week Mate had gone to the railroad station to meet Mande, not knowing about
the quarantine or when she would be arriving. He would sit and wait for the train
to pull in and search for her. On that particular day, as he sat and waited for
the train, tired from another hard day in the mines, he fell asleep and never
saw his family arrive. Not seeing Mate, Mande gave the boarding house address
to a taxi driver, but when she arrived there, Mate wasn’t there either.
Eventually he woke up, realized the train had come and gone and went back to
his boarding house where he was united with his little family.
Although Butte, Montana had provided the start of a new life
in America, it was not one of the best towns to live in. New immigrants such as
Mate found jobs in the mines, but the work was irregular, and the pay was poor.
It was a hard time financially for the family. In 1917, the family left Montana
and joined Mate’s cousins, in Tacoma. Many Croatians, some of them from Bacina,
had settled in the Ruston and Old Town areas of that city. One Sunday, the
family visited friends who lived in Dockton on Vashon Island. They had two
acres of land on the water, a cow, chickens, pigs, and a big garden. They could
dig clams on the beach and fish. Mate thought it was an ideal place to live and
he soon found five wooded acres with a crude cabin on it. Mate borrowed the
$900.00 it was selling for and bought the property. Many of the Croatian adults
could not read or write English so Helen became the teacher and the adults the
students. When her dad studied for his citizenship test, Helen was his tutor.
My grandmother Helen was an amazing woman. She forever
cherished her Croatian heritage and was very proud of it. But she also very
much cherished the life her family had made in the US in her small community of
Dockton and Vashon Island. All throughout her life she was a historian of her
travels from Croatian to the US and about her local culture and loved to tell
stories of what it was like to live in an era that seems so far away but really
was not that long ago.
Saturday, January 28, 2017
Friday, January 27, 2017
Big Boys Puzzles
Tommy got a big boy Blaze set of puzzles for Christmas. He was so proud when he got them together with a little help that he asked me to take a picture of his work.
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Sparklers
Today's Sunday dinner at Tony & Susan's included a massive amount of sparklers left over from New Years. The air was super stagnant too so you could barely even see each other because of the smoke. I am sure that thrilled the fire fighter.
Ice Skating
I came across some ice skating on the TV again and the boys would not let me change the channel. They love it.
Monday, January 16, 2017
Monday, January 09, 2017
Earsy Nosy
Sometimes it is hard to decipher what the boys are talking about after they come home from school. Today the came home and started talking about Earsy Nosy. I am not sure what it was about but the boys were pretty proud of themselves.
Saturday, January 07, 2017
Fisher Pond
Boys first trip to fisher pond for some ice skating... or in our case ice walking. Tom was super excited about it and was all over the place. Jake was clinging on to me and unsure. I ended up just have to grab him by his overalls and holding him up because he kept almost tipping me over.
Wednesday, January 04, 2017
Ride 'em Cowboy
Jake loves to ride on Tom's back. Unfortunately he just jumps right on with Tom without asking.
Sunday, January 01, 2017
New Years at the Property
We went to the property for New Years again. The boys really a great time. They love the snow and had a great time on the sledding hill. Tommy also got to ride the little snow mobile and totally loved it.
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