This is a photo of my Lithuanian/American father, Joseph, and his sisters, Helen and Ann, taken at a family wedding reception in 1985. They all attended Our Lady of Vilnius as children in the 1920's. Though they were born here, in Manhattan, their first language was Lithuanian. When my father was old enough to go out and play, he learned the language of his American neighbors: Italian. He did not learn English until he entered first grade.
In my family, we always celebrated my father's name day with a fresh loaf of Lithuanian bread and the traditional Italian sfingi and zeppoli.
How could I not love Our Lady of Vilnius, where both zeppoli and zeppelinai are part of the heritage?
No comments:
Post a Comment