A little housekeeping - First, Aunt Jane is actually 92 not 80ish!! She just looks a young 80ish!
Second - Please forgive my spelling and grammar errors (in reviewing the posts the next day after publishing I've noted a few, minor errors.) Bear in mind that I am generally writing these at 2:00 AM or so after a very long day. I have decided to not re-edit the posts to correct these errors - mainly because this is now Thursday and I am still writing about Sunday!
And finally, there are more children as well as sisters & brothers of Grandma Mary Dapkus that I have not mentioned yet - either because they are currently in living in America (Uncle Joe - her son) or we have not visited them yet (Uncle Bill her brother for example). We will get to them next week I think...
So onward to the story - I will try and post a couple of times over the course of the day today to get caught up - it has been a very busy weeks with a few brushes with death to talk about...caught your interest yet? ;) So make sure you are checking the time of the post so that you can read in the correct order.
OK - so I am on my third shot of petrol - excuse me, whisky, with Beruta and the room is beginning to spin just a bit. Everyone is laughing and shooting insults back and forth in Lithuanian. Someone encourages Beruta to show of her English language skills, she places two big hands over her mouth and giggles loudly while shaking her head "No", eyes watering and face red with embarrassment. Beruta had been to America a few years ago and learned the phrase "Mother F*&%@er"! She does know that it is a swear and insult and took great pride in the fact she could say it.. So the party trick for the afternoon was to get Beruta to swear - I have to tell you, it was one of the funniest things I have seen in a while; Lisa and I were wishing the kids were there to experience this - next trip I am sure they will be with us.
At this point it is nearing 3:00 PM and we have been up since 4:00 AM the day before - our butts were beginning to drag and the ladies had noticed this. Jonas got up and left after the third shot - knowing full well that Beruta would be relentless in her quest to get her brother in-law smashed. Also - Lithuania has very strict drinking and driving laws - more so than the US, so most folks - especially the older folks - are very responsible concerning drinking and driving. Jonas walked home. In either case - we begin to clean up the mess of the day so that we can start to settle in and get some rest. Little do they know that Modestas (Beruta's Grandson) will be stopping by later with his future wife to pay a visit. Did I mention this - one of the reasons we came at this time was to attend Modestas' wedding - which will be next Friday. More on that later.
So, now the apartment is clean - aside from our baggage everywhere, the ladies have left and we have a little down-time before Modestas arrives. Now comes the really exhausting part.
Remember at the beginning I mention the 6 - seventy pounds each - bags? These bags are filled to the brim with cloths, coffee, aspirin, assorted medications, shoes, a couple of CD Players, an electric razor, an electronic thermometer, toothpaste, soap, and other generally "stuff" that they can either not get here or simply can't afford to get here. The drill - we go through each and every piece, size it up and then size up a potential recipient for the gift. Then the piles are sorted in the order that we will visit each person. The only exceptions to that rule are Vila and Milda, they get to come over and pick anything they want for themselves. So we start to do this and realize just how big of a job it will be and decide to leave it until later. We will follow this ritual for many times over the next few days - pull out a bag, look through a couple of things, sign "bullshit" and then decide to do it later! That is until it is absolutely required that we get it done because we are going to see this person or that person. Then in frantic mode we go through and make piles. While it does not sound productive - it actually is quite productive as we all work better under pressure!
But, now, at 4:00 PM or so - we realize better to take a short nap before Modestas arrives and worry about everything else later. An hour passes quickly when you’re exhausted and we are splashing water on our faces preparing for Modestas to come over.
A little background on Modestas - he is well over 6'4" and a young man. His is a quiet guy - a bit shy and unassuming, always proper and polite with short cropped dark hair and deep brown eyes. He works at the local prison processing prisoners as they enter and leave. A very good, stable job I am told. He speaks a little English and is eager to help us out. On our last visit he was our chauffeur for a few days and was very accommodating - patiently waiting for us to take our silly pictures or answer our goofy questions. So he does have a special place in our hearts (as they all do I guess!). In either case, Modestas is honored that we decided to come to the wedding - so he wants to stop by to introduce his fiancé and invite us over to dinner later in the week. Modestas arrives on time with his fiancée Jolanta (Yo Lon Ta) in tow. She is nothing like him... to be continued - we have to head out the door!! I promise to catch up tonight!
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