Thanks to my friend Magda, I have the pleasure to show you some wonderful photos from her family album. Photos of a family, she didn't know existed until recently. She has set up, at my insistence, an account on MyHeritage a few years ago in hope of learning a little more about her near and distant relatives.
Her father left the family when she was very young and her Mum did not want to talk about the father of her children.
And... few months ago Magda was contacted by a woman, who claimed to be her aunt (the daughter of Magda's grandfather's sister - as it turned out later). After few e-mails – they decided to call one another. After a short conversation, she(Magda) managed to find out that her family, on her father's side, came from Sweden and many of them, her cousins and aunts live in and around the city of Uppsala. According to her(aunt), Magda's grandfather followed his love interest to Germany, and during World War 2 they were resettled in todays Poland.
It is really difficult for me to describe how much emotions this stirred up in my dear friend. She had a lot of bitterness and anger towards her father, a grudge against her mother, who did not help her to look for her roots. And, at the same time, she felt an enormous amount of gratitude to the woman, who - then still a stranger - they now talk to on the phone at least once a month!
Getting to know one's roots is a very natural, primal need. Without roots, we topple over like trees planted on sand. I'm not just talking about being close to one's family, which I'm sure is a priority for many people, but about the deep, elemental need to belong.
We often want to pretend that this does not affect us. That we are completely independent of anyone and don't need anyone. However, I think this is true for very few of us.
We want to belong, we want to feel that the place we are sitting on is ours, that someone is waiting, that someone thinks, that someone knows we exist.
The threads that bind us to our loved ones are paradoxically very thin, very easy to break.
I myself do not have a very strong bond with my family, my parents do not have a very good relationship with their siblings. These loose family relationships made it very difficult for me to find my place at the beginning of my journey. I think this is one of the reasons why I moved away from my home country.
Saying 'there's nothing keeping me here' was, in my case, enough to pack up and leave.
So I look for my place, my corner. I tie up the threads, I take care of them. I check that they are not too strained and too loose. I protect them from storms and turbulence, make sure they don't snag on mountains and get wet in streams. Even the longest threads can be kept in good condition, we just have to look after them. Every day.
Below you will find pictures from the family album of my good Friend. Most are from the beginning of the last century, but the photos are very well preserved, most developed on thick paper. I ma sure, that they will survive the next century unchanged.
Magda received the album in the mail from her 'newly acquired' aunt Elva, and she wonderfully agreed to let me share these beautiful pictures with you.
Needless to say, I find old photos particularly fascinating. It used to be extremely important to commemorate your image. It costed a lot and it was not possible to do a lot of probing and simply choose the best picture. Therefore, it was necessary to prepare for such an occasion - the best dress, a festive suit, an elaborately styled hair.
The people in the photos do not just look as if they are frozen in time. Their dignified, graceful poses and gentle, shy smiles remind me of antique sculptures. The couples do not look into each other's eyes, but they are looking ahead, into infinity. The poses are proud, the backs straight.
They are witnesses to eternity.
I hope you have wonderfull weeknd!
Yours,
Strega Azure
Pictures are my authorship if not stated otherwise, all rights reserved @strega.azure ©
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