A Closer Look (Part 77)

Summer Cottage, Russia, 1914. This is my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, at age 17.

Here's the original post.

Box Seat

St. Petersburg (then Leningrad), Russian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1966. My paternal Grandmother Tatjana's younger sister, the actress Elena, wrote, "A film about the life of the past century. I am at the theater, sitting in a box seat, watching a performance. The woman who is sitting next to me I cut off. I am wearing [your] jabot. This photograph was taken in the second half of December, not long before the blows."

Perhaps Elena refers to this when she mentions "the blows."

Thanks to my friend, D, for translating the inscription on this photo.

Pensive

Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1972. My Kaunas Cousin doesn't notice the camera.

Conversation

Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, about 1973. My Dad's older cousin Vytas visits my Kaunas Cousin's family. (That's Musytė on the left.)

Let's look at an original print.

Summer Cottage, 1914. Many of the old photos I post are scans of images my Dad restored. If I find a faded or damaged snapshot, I usually modify it. Here's an image I adjusted earlier.

We're managing.

Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, about 1960. My Dad's cousin, Henry, and his wife Suzanne visit at the apartment of their daughter, Kaunas Nina.

Happy Birthday ...

… to my Kaunas Cousin.

Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, about 1972. Although my Kaunas Cousin and I didn't meet in person until 2012, we grew up knowing about each other.

An Occasional Visitor

Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, about 1973. My Dad's older cousin, Vytas, visits with his niece, Kaunas Nina. Kaunas Nina holds her doggie, Musytė.

Vytas, like his brother Henry, was one of my Dad's older cousins. After Vytas returned to Lithuania from the Siberian Gulag, the regime prohibited him from living in a city. As a result, Vytas could visit Kaunas only occasionally.

Together

Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, about 1961. My Kaunas Cousin celebrates Christmas with her maternal Grandmother Suzanne, a cousin, her mother Kaunas Nina, and her Father.

Sunday Walk, with Musytė

Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, about 1972. My Kaunas Cousin and her mother, Kaunas Nina, prepare to take Musytė for a walk.

The New Arrival

Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1958. Kaunas Nina—the daughter of my Dad's older cousin, Henry—welcomes her daughter, my Kaunas Cousin.

"You ask: How do I live?"

After I posted this photo of my paternal Grandmother's sister, Elena (the actress), I found an envelope of letters and photos Elena had sent to Tatjana in the late 1950s and 1960s.

Earlier I had wondered whether Elena ever married or had a family. This photo—and what Elena wrote on the back of it—provides more information:

January 7, 1960

My own Tanjusha, I want to send you my own portrait as well, but I haven’t had my photo taken in a long time.

I am sending you a photo of me and my husband taken six months before his death. I was trying to restore his health—

*     *     *     *     *

I so wanted my beloved to live…
But death is implacable, he is in the grave
And for the widow there is inconsolable grief…

Why did this happen?  Why?

For I loved my husband very dearly.

I look at his portrait. It is deaf and dumb,

I am left alone—a broken-off branch.

(This is my own poem.)

*     *     *     *     *

You ask: How do I live? It is already the third year since I buried my husband, but I am still grieving and sad.

I am alone; my son is working in the north. This increases my melancholy and grief—I describe my feelings in poetry.

I spent the summer in a suburb of Leningrad at a dacha. My son was with me for a month and a half, and then I was living there alone. Now I am again living in the city apartment. In January my son will come to see me again. As for my health, I can’t complain. I sleep well and have a good appetite. I receive a good pension, and in addition my son helps me.

I kiss you warmly, my dear. I often remember you as you were when we were growing up. I remember. I love you. Deeply loving you. 

Ljalja

 

Thanks to my dear friend D for translating the text from Russian to English.

 

Sunday Afternoon

Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, about 1965. My Kaunas Cousin and her maternal Grandmother, Suzanne, enjoy a Sunday walk.

The Side of the House

Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, about 1963. Kaunas Nina—the daughter of my Dad's older cousin, Henry, and his wife Suzanne—sent this photo to my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana.

A Trip to the Beach

Palanga, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, about 1963. This photo, although marred, captures for me a flavor of life in the USSR. The young girl is my Kaunas Cousin, and she's visiting the resort with her maternal Grandmother, Suzanne.

The Front of the House

Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, about 1968. Kaunas Nina—the daughter of my Dad's older cousin, Henry—sent this photo show how the front of her house looked.

Bring the dogs to the beach.

Palanga, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, about 1972 or 1973. My Kaunas Cousin and her mother, Kaunas Nina, pay little attention to their digging dogs, Mustyė and Ači.

*     *     *     *     *

Palanga, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, about 1972 or 1973. Behind Kaunas Nina stand Soviet-era apartment buildings.

Welcome Summer

Palanga, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, about 1967. I posted this photo over a year ago. I revive it today because among all of the snapshots,  this one speaks "summer" to me.

You should wear a hat when you go outside.

Near Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, about 1969. Suzanne—the wife of my Dad's older cousin, Henry—and her Granddaughter—my Kaunas Cousin—have the right idea.

Spring's Hope

Probably Palanga, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, about 1964. My Kaunas Cousin delights in the weather as her maternal Grandmother, Suzanne, and Mother, Kaunas Nina, watch her.