Beautiful mountains and valleys
Gerson helping (so we could get out)
Brasil 2022-23 Diary/Photo Journal
Week of 022+ of January 08 - January 17, 2023 - The last Diary Page for our Brasil 2022-2023 trip
Our last week in Brasil and I will say, we were looking forward to getting home. We did spend the week enjoying reminiscing with family, receiving a family heirloom and saying our goodbyes.
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Drive back from the beach
to Curitiba Beautiful mountains and valleys |
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Just a few trees getting
trimmed Gerson helping (so we could get out) |
A highlight of the week was Gerson
receiving a family heirloom. His cousin, Ana Lucia, had a wooden table
that was made by their Grandfather (where Gerson gets his 'Polish or Prussian'
side). José Lemanczuk was Gerson's Maternal Great-Grandfather and he was a
skilled carpenter. As a 'Wheelwright', he specialized in the build
and repair of wagons and wagon wheels and built the wooden table for use in his shop. Gerson asked Ana Lucia if he could have the over 100 year-old table and without
hesitation she said "yes" and Gerson was ecstatic.
The table is made of hand-cut wood beams and the joints are all dove-tailed, notched or doweled. The table is almost 12' long (3.5meters) and was made in two parts (table top and base). José hand-drilled many holes along one edge of the table for the storage of his tools. And, speaking of tools, accompanying the table were many of the old carpentry tools used by Gerson's Great Grandfather and probably Ana Lucia's Father (Gerson's cousin)!
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Gerson's Great
Grandfather's table tucked away in storage The table - notice the notches for the tools...and the tools! |
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What a family treasure.
The channel was to balance the wheel while repairing. |
Now, all we had to do was find a way to transport the table to its temporary home. Fortunately, Flavia has a nice little rental home with a covered BBQ kitchen area and we hoped we could fit the table into that space until we determine what we can do with the table. We briefly discussed bringing it to the United States; however, it is a family heirloom that should stay with Gerson's family (and I did not even want to consider the cost of sending a 12', 100lb table to the U.S.).
Ironically, when we returned from Gerson's sister's beach house, Cassio was having some trees trimmed on his property. With transporting the table on our minds, we noticed that the man hauling away the tree debris had a rather nice truck. So, not being shy, we asked if he could meet us at Ana Lucia's and help us relocate the table to Flavia's house. An amount was agreed upon (about $40US), and in a couple of days, we carefully tied the table down in the back of the truck, transported it to Flavia's house and lovingly placed the piece of Gerson's history in Flavia's home.
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We were quite relieved
that the table was in two parts Over 100 years of history in the back of the truck Perfect place for its new home Probably every notch, cut, ding...was made by Gerson's GGrandfather |
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Gerson imagining what
using the tools would be like José Lemanczuk
(died 1943) and wife, Catarina, son Alcindo (Ana Lucia's Father), |
The week went by fast and lots of photos came out of the nooks and crannies in which we store our memories.
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Wedding photo of José and
Catarina Lemanczuk Photo of
Gerson's Mother (back, 2nd from right), |
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Gerson, cousin Celso and
Edson - circa 1976 Delvair (Gerson's Mother) - back, far right, Gerson is front, center Lincoln (Brother) red shirt next to Gerson Gerson, back middle and cousins |
We enjoyed many last meals with family and sharing those kinds of stories that are funny no matter how they are told. We received a gem of a photo of Gerson and his immediate family as well as a somber reminder that Gerson's mother died much too young at the age of 37 (aneurysm or stroke?).
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Grandfather Neno,
Grandmother Lali, Uncle Carlos, Mother Delvair, Uncle Sebastiao, Aunt Roseli, Sister Marjorie, Gerson, Brother Lincoln and Cousin Celso This photo was taken around May 1975 - two months later Gerson's Mother died of an aneurysm/stroke |
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José Lemanczuk left his
mark on the family home Gerson's Mother's
death announcement - only 37 years old |
And just like that, we're home. We spent 5.5 months in Brasil (I had a short respite at home due to the ladder attack ;-), and all-in-all, it was a great trip. We had some disappointment with the weather that kept us from enjoying time with Cindy; however, we made the most of the time we had with her. So many memories made with family and friends and although Brasil has its challenges, it is a beautiful country with beautiful people.
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Brasil is all about color |
Tchau for now...
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