As I wrote
in my first entry about Maramures trip, I travelled there with a group of
retired people. Widows, grandmothers who wanted to forget about their everyday chores and have fun together, couples who
seemed to have spent their entire lives
together in harmony, however their relationship was just a few years old, and other
couples who were a bit less enthusiastic…
One of my
favourite ones was Lajos bácsi. An engineer and teacher, still works and teaches
in his mid 70’s, grandpa of four and lives in harmony
with Marika néni who was a kindergarten teacher earlier. He was born in Aknaszlatina (called Solotvyno nowadays ) during the 2nd World War.
Those times
his birth town was part of Hungary. In the storm of history Aknaszlatina became
part of the former Soviet Union, today Ukrain, and his parents decided to move
to Szentes, Hungary. He was just a little boy then. All of this torture became
just a story for him with a gloomy, constant desire: once in his life he still
has to go back there and see the little town where he was born.
However, our
accommodation was in Cavnic, our host took his car and drove him to Aknaszlatina
which is just a few km far from the Romanian border. While Lajos bácsi was looking
around on the main square he run into a guy who was the vice mayor of the
town. They started to chat and he
invited Lajos bácsi into his office. One word led the other and the vice mayor
turned out to have relatives in Szentes, Hungary where Lajos bácsi lives. They
promised each other to look for more information about each other’s relatives
and keep in touch.
This was one
of the best, heartwarming
stories I have heard
this summer.
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