Once Upon a Time. . ."My Story"

ONCE-UPON-A-TIME.....

There was youth and young years of our life, then as we grew we were corrupted and the innocence was gone.

There was laughter and joy; then came sorrow and tears.

There was peace and tranquility; then came rumors of war... and then wars; our life changed and nothing was the same anymore.

There was the land of the "Gentle Giant", the dream and hope of millions and then the Giant fell asleep and allowed some wicked Midgets to influence life. Than came a terrible awakening that changed life again... for ever.

This is not "Fairy Tale", it is the memories; collection of events of my life.

I dedicate this to my family; they encouraged me to write it down, they want to have it, they want to remember of it and carry it down to their children to show how it was once upon a time.

Many times after supper we were sitting outside, watching the beautiful sunset in California, we were talking. Sooner or later the story of my life came up. How was life in the old country? How was my childhood? How did I end up in this country?

My family was fascinated how colorful and diversified my life was.

It is true, it was anything but boring. This life taught me that one must have faith, dedication, strength and determination to reach one's destination.

SOME OF THE HISTORY OF OUR CLAN.

Before I go further I want to introduce my family and the clan I was born into.

Our family here is not big. I want my children to know what it was like to be part of a larger clan.

There was not any sophisticated record keeping in the past, most of the history came down through conversation during those long winter evenings, when families and neighbors got together. On my mother's side we can go back only a couple of generations; her Great- Grandmother had some Bavarian blood line in her. That was not unusual as after the Turkish occupation the population of Hungary was very thin, so the surrounding countries replenished the land. Her grandmothers nickname was" two ears pot" because she loved to stand in the gateway watching people on the street and she had her two arms resting on her hips.

Her mother (my grandmother) was a very fragile woman and I don't know how she could carry and give birth to nine children... grand father was not the most responsible person, in this case.

On her father's side they were tobacco growers, ever since there was tobacco growing in the old world; it was a profitable business even in the past. Her father (my grandfather) was a hard working man; that is how I remember of him. He was honest and straight forward, but he would never hurt anybody. By the start of WWI he had four children and yet he was inducted. He was away for four solid years, leaving the family behind without any support.

After the war and the brake down of the Austro-Hungarian Empire a very chaotic situation was born; first the so called "Red Rose Revolution" broke out with the support of the "Lenin Boys", chased and harassed by the Romanian army. After the defeat of the "Lenin Boys" another unstable life took place. Finally after the Peace Treaty some calm settled.

He was a well known and respected member of our town’s community therefore he was elected to town-judge and served for a few years as such.

During the war years while he was away my mother, being the oldest, had the responsibility to take care of the younger ones; my grandmother most of the times was not able to do so. The starvation, the harsh winter, the hard chores left their mark on my mothers health also, -Arthritis and Rheumatism were her traveling companions throughout her life.

On my father's side there is a lot of legend. The family name goes back to the Fifteenth Century. There was a high ranking Archbishop, (Miklos Olah,) an Adviser to the Court and according to contemporary custom his whole household bore his name, and this is how my ancestors got their family name. Some gained small nobility, others remained workers and peasants, and some joined the existing mercenary army

That area where they were settled remained free from Turkish occupation; they were relatively free. This was the independent territory of Transylvania which was a part of the greater Hungary before and after the Turkish occupation, for a millennium, or until the "Versailles Treaty" became the law.

After the Turkish occupation a great population vacuum was born over the land down below. In the fourteenth century the population of Hungary was equal to that of England, over four million people. However after the liberation from the Ottoman one hundred and fifty years later it was less than two millions. This is what the Ottoman did to that country (...is there any lesson to the world?)

There was a great opportunity to obtain some free land, my great-great grandfather, according to the legend, packed up his belongings and his family and moved down to that area. It was a bad land, with out-laws; loaded with robbers and highway men. To secure his asset, he hid it....and it was so secure and hidden that he never found it...ever.

That was the end of the family's "we will make it". Of course my ancestor was not alone. No, he was only the clan leader and was not suffering alone, his brothers, and sisters and their families were with him. They settled down, homesteaded on a few acres, just enough to produce food to save them from starvation. There were no working animals to help them to cultivate the land; they did everything by hand and by themselves. Finally the clan members drifted off, searching for better opportunity. Some became handy-man, some learned some other skill. At the end only a couple of acres were left for my grandfather.

He realized that this just can not go on. By these troubled years half of the old continent was in motion as they heard about the land of the opportunity...the land of the "Gentle Giant," over there ...far away, over the great ocean, where it us up to your willingness to make your life, achieve your dreams. After a long family clan discussion he had to make a decision between starvations, hopelessness or hit the road and try to change the life of his loved ones for the better.

What I learned about him is astonishing. He was a man of great integrity, deep in faith, trust of others and willing to help anyone, anytime’s. I have only a photo picture of him that he sent from the USA some times in the late teens of the century, he is holding the Rosary and the Good-Book. I heard the stories, how he reached out to help others who came after him into the States. After his death the family learned that his trust in others did not pay back with kindness.