The day after Thanksgiving, my sister and ex-sister-in-law drive down to visit my Aunt and Uncle who I had dinner with the day before. The topic of “It’s a small world” comes up, as a acquaintance of my Aunt knows my I ex sister-in-law sister
They sit there trying to figure out how these two people know each other. There is a 20-year age difference, they didn’t work together, didn’t run in the same circle. At best, my aunt and sister-in law figured out that the two friends met at a casino.
My Aunt was willing to work out the connection as it intrigued her. However, she informs me that she has absolutely no interest in genealogy. She could care less where her family came from. What? You want to play six degrees of separation of how my ex sister-in-law’s sister knows an acquaintance of yours, but you don’t want to know about your Polish grandmother, Mary. Mary, who was left abandoned and pregnant with your father in 1917. Your grandfather left her with seven children and no money.
My great grandmother Maryanna Budna (nee Borucki) survived by doing laundry and whatever her 14 year-old son, Stanley, could do to bring in some money. By 1920 most of the children including were in some type of children’s home. I have only been able to find my Aunt Phyllis in the 1920 census. Stanley did whatever he could do to get the kids back with Mary. The girls got married at 16 and were out of the house. Stanley’s source of income was petty crime. Stealing cars and stealing coal off the tracks so the family could heat their house. My grandfather, Felix, was his partner in crime for the coal heists. Felix was 10 years old when Stanley died. Stanley’s death in 1927 put a further financial strain on the family.
Yet, my aunt wonders how her own Mother, survived her own upbringing. My grandmother Mildred Edith was farmed out to live with her Aunt Edith and Uncle Harry in the late 1920’s. Mildred Edith’s father died in a fall at the Zilwaukee plant in Saginaw, Michigan in 1925. Even though her mother remarried, it wasn’t enough to keep the family together. My grandmother remained very close with her sisters throughout her life. She was very interested in genealogy and is descended from the Claude DesJardins (dit Charbonneir).
Maybe be it is one of those genetic traits that skips a generation. Not everyone is interested in their past. I happen to believe family history is more interesting than gossiping about celebrities or people who don’t have anything to contribute to your life.
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