miss akay

Church with my Oma

Today, I went to church with my grandmother. It's been almost four years since I had gone last. Last time was also with my grandmother while she was still living in Atlanta. The sound of the pipe organ! Now, there's an instrument you never hear outside of church. It's funny how even though I was never a huge church-goer growing-up, the act of going to church and sitting through a service is a really moving experience. If I had more time while in San Francisco, I would have liked to have gone to the Latvian church. It wasn't far from my house either. Because of hurricane Katrina, the sermon discussed tragedies in the long history of people and pointed out that we're probably not facing the end of the World! Phew.

My favorite part of the service is the sharing of peace. Because the chapel is part of the retirement community where my grandmother lives, the congregation is all senior citizens. Every single one of them was so sweet and interested in meeting me. It was fun to greet everyone and pass complements about dresses and scarves. Shaking hands and happily telling the person standing next to you, "Peace be with you", is a great thing! Though not every part of the service spoke volumes to me, there were moments that caused me to reflect on my own life and how I treat others. It's nice to have a reminder that we're all here on the same Earth and must share, support and love one another to a certain extent. At least, if we're able to do that, life promises more. Don't you think?

The rest of the afternoon was spent looking through albums that pre-dated WWII, when my grandmother was still living in Latvia. Her family and friends were beautiful. The parties they attended were lavish and everyone dressed so nicely. Some of the photos looked like storybooks. She would point to the cute girls in dresses or handsome guys and tell me who was deported to Siberia. Whoa! It's unbelievable the tragedy that some people live through. My grandmother escaped the Soviets with the album she shared with me and one single suitcase. She told me all the close calls and blessings bestowed upon her, like getting passage to the United States even though the Latvian immigrant quotas had been filled already. Her boss's wife while she briefly lived in Germany (she escaped Latvia and fled to Germany AND got a job, while living in a refugee camp) arranged her passage to the US because she had a sponsor in New York to receiver her. My grandmother spoke Latvian, French, German and English as well as studied Latin in school. She was well educated! My grandmother was pregnant with my mom while in Germany and left for the US without my Opa, who had to stay until passage was given to those "displaced" by the War. He came a year later because my mother was born as a US citizen. My Oma has always said she was carried in the hands of God throughout the War and when she made it to the United States. It's a very moving story and there are far more details than I can remember. She left her home in Latvia when she was 24 (I think) and returned about 50 years later, once Latvia was freed from Soviet occupation. I went with her and got to see where she had lived. But that's a whole other story!

It's nice to be back East and create new memories with my family. I remember where I come from and I'm lucky to live a life where I can chose things, like the city where I want to live. I do miss California though. I miss the wonderful places I would walk, the light in the afternoon, and the gorgeous countryside that's not far off. The heavy development in Virginia breaks my heart. It's very difficult to get over what has happened here. Such poor planning! Northern California is a special place. I'm not saying there aren't suburban uglies out there, too! I would rather be in Philadelphia than Northern Virginia. Maybe I'm a city girl! But I'm also a country girl. The open outdoors feed my soul. The suburban sprawl drains it.

posted by miss akay @ 6:05 PM