Family History

This past Sunday, Zvonko and Nada took me to see the cousin of my Grandma Strazar, Ana Perovsek.  On the way to Ana's house, they gave me a  little history lesson on Ana.  She lived in this house with her parents and her sister, Julijana, until they all passed away.  Ana once raised animals and worked the land while Julijana did the housework.  Ana, 87, is the only one left living in this house, which is at least 200 years old.  From the way Zvonko described Ana, she reminded me of an extreme Mimi Cimperman.  While she does have running water and electricity, the water is cold, her bathroom is basically an outhouse, she has a large bucket for bathing, and no phone.  She is extremely set in her ways and does not want any modern amenities.

When we arrived at her house, she was sleeping in her bedroom on top of one of those old Slovenian stoves/heaters.  Nada and I waited in a small entrance room while Zvonko went to go wake Ana.  This small room had framed collaged photographs of all of the relatives who lived in America, as well as some very old photographs of her own family.  Zvonko told me that the relatives in America were extremely special and these photographs were sacred to her, but it was kind of strange to see them hanging on the walls. 

When Ana entered the room where I was standing, she stopped quickly and turned her head to the right to look at me.  I will never forget that image.  I felt like I had been dropped in a world that existed about one hundred years ago and felt so out of place.  She had on these old clothes and shoes, and a babushka tied tight around her head.  She looked up at me with these watery blue eyes and just stared at me as she tried to put together who I was.  Of course I couldn't understand anything she said, and eventually she started crying, which Zvonko says she does quite often. 

These are the pictures she had hanging on her walls.



This is a picture of Ana's mother on the right, Franciska Zakrajsek,

and Franciska's mother, Agnes (Zitnik) Zakrajsek (I think...), on the left.

Ana and I.

She had started to cry...

Ana's house.

The room with the pictures hanging on the wall.

Ana's bedroom.  The stove/heater is on the left.

The following two pictures are of the house that my great-grandmother, Marija, lived in.  The house is no longer there, but Zvonko took me to see the land where it once stood. 

In this picture are Fr. Vic, Mimi, Ann, Tony, and Rosie (and two mystery people in the background)

 from when they visited Slovenija around 1988.




A little bit about our family tree....  Zvonko and I started filling out an online family tree on geni.com.  (Let me know if you would like to see the tree, and I will add you to the account.) 

My Great-Great Grandparents:

Agnes (Zitnik) Zakrajsek - Anton Zakrajsak

Their 4 Children (That we know of...)

1.)  Franciska (Zakrajsek) Perovsek married Matija Perovsek 

          Their 5 Children:

               Alojzij Perovsek

               Anton Perovsek married Marija (Colaric) Perovsek      

                    Zvonko and Bostjan

               Julijana Perovsek

               Ana Perovsek (The cousin that I visited)

               Franciska Perovsek

2.)  Marija (Zakrajsek) Cimperman married Joseph Cimperman
          Their 6 Children:

               Mary Cimperman

               Victor Cimperman

               Joseph Cimperman married Majda

                    Maria and Joseph

               Anthony Cimperman married Francis

                    Paula....(can't remember all 12! Sorry!)

               Ann (Cimperman) Strazar married Anton Strazar

                    Annette, Jim, Judy, Anthony

               Frank Cimperman

3.)  John Zakrajsek

4.)  Stefan Zakrajsek

That's just a little bit about our family tree.  If it's wrong or you can give me more information, let me know!  So, my great-great grandmother and grandfather, Anges (Zitnik) Zakrajsek and Anton Zakrajsek, and Zvonko's great-grandparents. 

That's all for now!