Hypocrisy

People who are scared to walk into a grocery store.... but will get on a plane to fly to visit family.

People who are terrified to travel to visit family... but will meet with clients, unmasked, in their office.

People who will insult, bully and intimidate someone who is reluctant to get vaccinated to "do what is right for everyone" .... but refuses to wear a mask at the office.

People who criticize other businesses for how they handled the original COVID shut-down... but only closed their own office for a few days and then asked employees to all come back to work ... without masks.

People who make disparaging remarks about people who are unvaccinated ... but will allow an employee who has been exposed to a COVID + person to keep coming into the office to clean every night.

Am I REALLY a fan???

When I was a kid (late '70s into the 80's), to be a fan of an actor/actress/musician/band took some legit dedication.  You stood at Walgreen's scouring the pages of the most recent teen magazines looking for pics of your chosen star.  You saved up allowance to buy those magazines.  You treasured those magazines.  You protected those magazines. You read the articles.  You studied the photos.  You reread the articles a million times.  You looked at the pictures a million times.  You watched TV guide to see when your chosen star would be on TV.  You planned your evening around the fact that your chosen star was going to appear/perform on a certain night at a certain time.  You either sat with your finger ready to hit the Record button on the VCR, or you set the VCR to (hopefully!!) record in your absence.  You saved up money and went to the mall to search through racks of tapes to find tapes by your favorite artists.   You listened to the same few tapes over and over and over.

Today, if there is a star you like, you can immerse yourself in all things related to that star in a matter of minutes/hours.  A quick Google search will bring up all the songs/movies/photos/birth date/etc...etc...etc.  Open Spotify and you can play pretty much any song that artist have ever recorded.  YouTube.... Instagram... Facebook... Twitter..... all bring the stars day-to-day lives to you in the same manner that you keep up with your best friend's day-to-day life.  

Now that it has become SO easy to know every detail about any famous person with the click of a few keys.... what allows a person to say they are a true fan of a particular artist?  What defines a fan today? 

I've lived a life I was never meant to live
I've given up more of myself than was available to give
Each step along the way a small part of me would die
When I think of what I could have done there's nothing to do but cry
I look in the mirror and see someone I don't even know
And ask myself, at this point, do I stay or do I go
I feel so disconnected from all of my family and my friends.
It's like I'm always acting in a play that never ends.

Is it possible to loose your creativity?  When I was young, I doodled on everything. Notebooks, folders, my Chucks, my jeans, my hands..anything I could draw on.  Now, 30 years later, I rarely doodle and feel like all of my creativity is gone. I am considering starting to work on jewelry design and possibly take some classes at the Art Association to see if I can rekindle my creative spark. Wish me luck :)

Daily Writing Challenge


(I am not doing so well with my "daily writing challenge:".  I promise I will try to do better.  My goal is to write approx. 250 words per day.)

Today I would like to tell you a little bit about one family story that "hooked" me and, I believe, really sparked my interest in family history.  My paternal grandfather, Browning Jonaitis, had a sister, Isabella, who passed away when she was 8 years old, from influenza.  When I was young and heard that story, I was intrigued.  I had never heard of anyone dying from influenza.  I couldn't imagine what it was like for my grandfather and his parents and other sister to loose her so young.  That story stuck with me.  Other than the basic facts of her age when she died and what caused her death, I really didn't have much other information. My grandfather didn't speak about it much, in fact he didn't talk about family history much period.  A few years ago I decided I was going to begin searching for Isabella.

I had previously checked the area around my grandfather's grave to see if Isabella was buried near him.  His parents were buried one row over, so I thought it might be a good place to start.  No luck.

Personal Summaries

I am typing "Personal Summaries" of my ancestors, based upon information found in censuses and other documents.  This is an example of a portion of the Personal Summary for my paternal great-grandfather.

Joseph [Josef] Jonaitis (1878-1960)

1920 Census - Census taken January 11^th, 1920. Residence (rented) 2032 11^th Street, Springfield, Illinois (Capital Township, City of Springfield Election Precinct No. 7) Information provided by Joseph Jonaitis (age 41). Joseph Jonaitis (age 41) head of household.  His wife, Mary Jonaitis (age 32), lived with him, along with his children, Joseph (age 17), Adolph (age 15), Brownie (age 8) and Annie (age 4 3/12).  Joseph’s year of immigration listed as 1895.  Mary’s year of immigration listed as 1895.  Both Joseph and Mary are listed as “naturalized”.  Joseph’s year of naturalization is listed as 1900.  No year of naturalization listed for Mary. Joseph was able to read and write.  Mary was not able to read or write.  Joseph’s place of birth listed as Russia and his mother tongue is listed as Lithuanian.  Mary’s place of birth is listed as Russia and her mother tongue is listed as Lithuanian.  Joseph’s parents are both listed as being born in Russia and mother tongue being Lithuanian.  Mary’s parents are both listed as being born in Russia and mother tongue being Lithuanian.  Joseph and Mary are both noted to be able to speak English.  Joseph’s occupation is listed as miner in a coal mine as a wage worker.  Mary is listed as no occupation. All four children are listed as being born in Illinois.  Joseph (Age 17) and Adolph (age 15) are listed as not having attended school at any time since Sept 1, 1919.  Brownie is listed as having attended school since Sept 1, 1919.  Joseph (age 17) is listed as a miner in a coal mine as a wage worker.  Adolph (age 15) is listed as an employee at a watch factory as a wage worker.  Brownie and Annie are both listed as no occupation.  All four children are noted to speak English.

Taking a Trip into the Past - Researching My Family History

I always enjoyed listening to stories told by my parents and grandparents about their childhood, family memories, stories of "the good 'ol days".  I only wish I would have paid more attention when my grandparents and their siblings were living.  But, as is typical for most children/teenagers, I would listen to the stories but not listen well enough to retain many of the details.  Now that I am an adult and have children of my own, I feel like it is important for me to make a record of those stories to pass down to my children so they will know their ancestors on a more personal level.  I feel it is important to not only know names and dates, but to feel a personal connection, to be able to have a glimpse into their day-to-day lives.  This blog will chronicle my attempts to make that a reality.

I will be attempting to trace my paternal grandparents' (Joseph Jonaitis and Mary Radomski) entry into the United States and their lives prior to immigration in, I believe, Lithuania.

A few of the surnames I will be researching are: Loreth, Lorett, Jonaitis, Hays, Burress, Wilson, Blankenship, Radomski, McDowell.  

I invite you to contact me if you are also researching any of these surnames.  Maybe we are looking for the same family line.  Maybe I have information that could be useful to you.  Maybe you have information that could be helpful to me.  Who knows....maybe we are related.