Another pioneer story?

Written by lindahubalek on . Posted in Blog

Tena Janecek Hubalek

Tena Janecek Hubalek

I tend not to write when I’m sad or overwhelmed, and I’ve been both recently— so I haven’t blogged, written on my book series, or even handwritten in my daily diary.

Lois, my mother-in-law went into hospice in July and died the last part of August. We had a memorial service here since she moved to our town after my father-in-law died, and then the burial out in western Kansas where the family had originally lived.

Then it fell on my shoulders to sort and disperse of my in-laws final belongings.

Lois was a very organized woman, so going through the last of her things wasn’t too bad as she mainly kept what she needed and was important after moving near us.

Opening one box led me to the Hubalek family history. Here were photos of my husband’s maternal great grandparents that came from the Czech Republic in 1874, and his fraternal grandfather that came in 1892. They settled in the western Kansas Czech community of Wilson.

Besides photos, which when flipped over were all labeled with every person featured on them, there were books and postcards in the Czech language, telling me the story of their lives in a language I couldn’t read. Little boxes of newspaper clippings and obituaries about family covered a whole century of time.

Here was the final trace of the family line in boxes on my dining room table.

What did I do with these final boxes? I saved them. Maybe this is another pioneer woman’s story I could share by my writing. Can you think of a better way to honor the ancestors that left their homeland for the future of their family?

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