Returning to Their Roots

Andriy's father, Yaroslaw, generously offered to drive us to the villages that Fred's grandfather and grandmother had left around the turn of the century. The trip would take two days and would take us through some of Ukraine's best farming areas. The rural villages were an eye-opener, with some horse drawn carriages and very old, small equipment.

Andriy had made arrangements for us to meet with the remaining relatives in the village of Kotivko/Copechinski. We were greeted warmly by Marika and her two children. Marika is Fred's grandmother's niece. She is a stay-at-home mother as her husband is employed in Czech Republic, something he has done for the last 10 years or more.



We had a great afternoon visiting around the table, eating perogies and drinking homemade apple juice and sweet wine. Marika led us to the cemetery to visit the graves of Fred's and Alice's great grandmother and also their great - great grandmother. We also paid our respects to their great uncles.




No one wanted to leave, but we had another mission to complete on this hot day - searching for Jim's ancestors. This adventure is the subject of tomorrow's blog!

I apologize in advance for the errors in names and locations...Ukrainian names are very difficult for this Irish ear!