Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, June 20, 1956. My Mom's maternal Aunt, Dora, sits in the yard with her husband. Dora writes, "A female dog showed up this past winter under the porch. A little while later, she led these precious pups to us. Now, I don't know what to do with them. Maybe I will keep them; they are so beautiful."
It looks like Dora kept at least the puppy on the left. That puppy looks like Pupkė.
Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, July 10, 1956. My Mom's maternal Aunt, Dora, and her husband sit on the steps of my Mom's childhood home. Dora's doggie "Pupkė" sits on her lap.
Last night, as we prepared for our "three-dog-night" bedtime routine, my Mom came upstairs, as she usually does, to lend a hand with the pups. Yesterday she carried two envelopes with her, up to the dining room. The envelopes contained photos I had never seen. It was another "eureka moment," when an unexpected cache of photos appears in the house. Coincidentally, Mr. Irene visited his folks yesterday, and they, too, produced a few folders of "new" old snapshots.
I thought I had ferreted out all of the old family photos. I don't want the stream of old photos to end. But I've also considered how this blog will evolve when the old images all have been posted. I am delighted when I can postpone transformations.
So here is Dora, coaxing her little doggie to stay in the beg position:
Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, September 10, 1959. Dora writes,"I am wearing the taffetta dress with 'Pupkė,' our little dog. But this is a weak photo. I look much better in real life."
(We have named two of our dogs, Pupa and Poppy, after the term "'Pupkė," a common Lithuanian word of endearment. My Mom, for example, still calls me "Pupulė.")
My Mom's maternal Aunt, Dora, did not flee Lithuania when my Mom and her Father left in 1944. We are not sure why Dora stayed behind.
Dora remained in Kaunas. She lived in the house that Jake and Jadzė had built in the early 1930s. Dora's Husband, her Mother, Zigmunta, and a series of Chihuahuas and Miniature Pinschers shared the home with her. Dora lived into her nineties, and so did Zigmunta.
You may recognize these steps from an earlier post:
Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1956. Dora sits with her doggie, "Pupkė," on the front steps. My Mom's maternal Grandmother, Zigmunta, rests in the back, on the bench.
Click on the "Dora" tag below to get a better picture of her story.
