Related by Marriage: Remembering Stanley

Marquette Park, Chicago, Illinois, 1961. We're remembering Mr. Irene's maternal Grandfather, Stanley, because he died 40 years ago today. Here is is with Mr. Irene's maternal Grandmother, Anna. They were married for 57 years and four days.

The weather is pleasant, but it's a bit crisp.

Schweinfurt, Germany, May 1948. My Parents are on their honeymoon.

Grab a Book: Nightly Edition

Kaunas, Lithuania, about 1937 or 1938. My paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, unwinds.

Another "Selfie"

Suburban Chicago, 1962 or 1963. Dad again used the self-timer to take this photo. He's wearing his Omega watch and a vest my Mom knitted. Dad still wore his wedding band on his right hand. There's a lot of gold in his smile: Dad used to joke that he paid a dentist the equivalent of putting a Volkswagen Beetle in his mouth.

I'm thinking today about the face I've missed for the last twenty-six years.

It's cold on the Atlantic Ocean in June.

Atlantic Ocean, June 1949. Today I ran across another photo of my Parents aboard the "General W.M. Black." I am happy when I find something new in my Dad's outtakes box. Dad still wears his wedding ring on his right hand.

When I think about uncertainty—or how dicey it is to make long-term plans—I consider what thoughts my Parents had as they sailed to America.

Related by Marriage: Glowing Newlyweds

Chicago, Illinois, 1958. Mr. Irene's Parents look ready for an evening outing. Someone took this snapshot of them shortly after their wedding.

One More Snapshot

I have found another photo of my maternal Grandfather, Jake, and his two brothers taken on the last day the three men were together.

Kaunas, Lithuania, Summer 1940. Jake sits on the right, wearing the uniform of the Soviet occupiers. His wedding band is visible on his right hand; that's the ring Mr. Irene has worn for the last twenty-three years. The elegant Cody Jr.—the brother who drove his car from Poland—sits in the middle. On the left is Zigmas, father of my "New" Cousin.

Married Scout

Seligenstadt, Germany, Summer 1948. I can date this photo because my Dad already is wearing a wedding band. The ring is on his right hand, as is the custom in Lithuania and in Germany.

Related by Marriage: Bridal Portrait

St. George's Parish, Bridgeport, Chicago, June 1917. This is Mr. Irene's maternal Grandmother, Anna. I earlier posted the portrait in which she posed with her new husband, Stanley, here.

Oakbrook Center Opens

Oakbrook Center opened in March 1962, and our family began frequenting the shopping center a few months later.

Oakbrook was a special place. Even if a family could not afford to shop at all of the stores, it always could enjoy the flowers and other seasonal decorations.

Oakbrook punctuated many occasions for me. I went to the old Oakbrook "UA Cinema" on my first date. The movie was A Touch of Class with Glenda Jackson and George Segal. I had dinner at "The Magic Pan" on the night I graduated from high school. I used to meet my Godmother at Henrici's for lunch. When I started interviewing for university jobs, Mom took me to Oakbrook to select a suit. After I got a job, she indulged me by buying a pair of unforgettable shoes at one of the Oakbrook stores. Mr. Irene and I selected our engagement rings at the Oakbrook Marshall Field's. Mom and I picked out Mom's "mother-of-the-bride" dress at Oakbrook's Lord & Taylor.

Oakbrook, Illinois, August 1962. The shopping center always plants beautiful flowers. In the spring, it is full of tulips. That's the famous, round Sears store in the background.
 

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Oakbrook, Illinois, August 1962. My paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, my Mom, and I sit near one of the fountains. We are in front of the Sears store. Mom holds the pocketbook that my Dad's friend, Casey, brought from Colombia.
 

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Oakbrook, Illinois, August 1962. Ah! That dress is so fresh in my memory, I can almost hear the rustle of the fabric.
 

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Oakbrook, Illinois, August 1962. Well, hello there.

Related by Marriage: The Wedding Rings

I mentioned—I think twice before—that Mr. Irene and I exchanged our Grandparents' bands as our wedding rings. I've already introduced my maternal Grandfather, Jake. He's the person whose ring Mr. Irene wears.

These are Mr. Irene's maternal Grandparents, Anna and Stanley, on their wedding day. Anna and Stanley each emigrated from Lithuania as teenagers. They met and married in Chicago. Their wedding took place at the first Lithuanian parish in the city, St. George's.

Lithuanians divide their immigration histories into three waves ("bangos"). Mr. Irene's maternal Grandparents emigrated to the United States during the "first wave," that is, during the early part of the twentieth century. The "second wave" rolled in when the Displaced Persons—my Parents and Mr. Irene's Dad—sailed over. The "third wave" arrived after 1991, when Lithuania secured its independence from the Soviet Union, and people again could come and go out of the country unfettered by restrictions.

Mr. Irene's maternal Grandparents are the type of folk about whom Upton Sinclair wrote in The Jungle. These were the Lithuanian immigrants who worked in the Chicago stockyards, who owned the butcher shops, who populated the South Side, and whose identity pivoted around the Roman Catholic parishes to which they belonged.

Mr. Irene and I had no idea that we had scheduled our wedding on the same calendar date as the anniversary of his maternal Grandparents. My wedding band therefore has one date—and two different years—inscribed in it.

St. George's Parish, Bridgeport, Chicago, June 1917. Mr. Irene's maternal Grandparents, Anna and Stanley, pose for an elaborate wedding portrait.

Check out the bridal bouquet!

It was so cold.

My Mom recalls that the barracks that housed the Displaced Persons were so cold that she could see her breath. One winter morning, Mom found the water had frozen in a rosebud vase.

Mom and her roommate used to heat up a clothes iron before going to sleep, and they placed the iron on the mattress to warm the bed for the night.

Seligenstadt, Germany, 1945. My maternal Grandfather, Jake, wears a coat and hat while he works indoors at the Displaced Persons camp. There's cigarette smoke in the air, too.

Although Jake was a widower by this time, he still wears his wedding ring. The ring is on his right hand; that was the custom. Mr. Irene has worn that ring as his own wedding ring since we married.

A Close-Knit Family

Kaunas, Lithuania, around 1931. My Mom sits between her parents, Jake and Jadzė. Mom has one of those Eastern European bows in her hair; the bow is hard to see because it is blending into the wallpaper. Jake is wearing the uniform of the Lithuanian Army. His belt is a gold and olive green woven sash clasped with a brass buckle. Mr. Irene wore that belt when he and I folk danced. Mr. Irene also wears Jake's wedding band (and I wear his maternal Grandmother's ring).