"K" is for Kin : My BoJon Heritage

"K" is for Kin and it fits perfectly for Ms. Jenny and the folks at Alphabe Thursday! Relatives, Relations,  family (members). I am the smallest member in this phamily photo taken in 1959 and probably at Rye, Colorado's Perseren Home. My cousin Joanne is next to me with her glasses on. My mom is directly behind me and man oh man was she pretty. Even my sweet grandma Steblay the phamily matriarch is smiling here.

I like to check the definition of words. I was a decent speller when I was in school so this helped a lot! Ohana is the Hawaiian interpretation for P H A M I L Y ! If you were in Slovenia today I am guessing they would say :

Družina

I thought this was quite appropriate to fit into my BoJon Heritage 31 days of July posts. I have enjoyed writing about my folks, siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles and grandparents as well as friends and neighbors and, of course, our wonderful neighborhood we grew up in. I have been been blessed with  help from so many loved ones, including my sister Mary, cousins Mike Barnett, Juliane Cosimano-Barden, and Kay Samples-Elliott. My nieces Karla Hoffert-Suazo and Holly Hoffert-Webb. Stories and photos and just pure love from so many wonderful people ! Cousin Mike Barnett would say that's what BoJon's do. It is true, we take care of our own. We love and laugh and listen. We do for our own and we do for others too. It is how we were raised. We are related, we are kin, we know our blood runs deep because we come from some of the greatest people ever created! We fit together like a giant jigsaw puzzle. We share laughter and tears. We know each other's sorrows, we have fears and yet we manage to get through it all by the grace of God and our good BoJon genes!

 If you haven't tried it, go to one of the many sites to trace your heritage. There are so many and  you can connect those dots together and find out so much information.

 All the kids except Jeremy and here he is:

1. 

   This was Colton's high school graduation. So as they were leaving, Colton took a snapshot with each guest and their phamily. Jeremy, Brittany and Addy  were happy to oblige.
2. 
   
   Jeremy and His auntie Mary 2013 at her grandson Ryan's  high school graduation. 

I was thinking of the mothers that raised us. The people who surrounded us. We had life lessons each day of our young lives. We learned, we prayed, we laughed, we loved. Our mom's made nourishing meals for us to eat. They washed our clothes and chauffeured us everywhere we needed to go. Sundays, we attended church as a phamily. Our mother's cooked, I know I said it before, but my mom had two standard Sunday dinners, one was fried chicken and the other one was pot roast. We spent Sunday afternoon's with Grandpa and Grandma Kocman and evenings with Grandma Steblay. We had manners and respect for others, sadly lacking in today's messed up world. Our dad's worked hard. Mine started at the C F and I Steel Corporation when he was 13. At age 16 he was given a raise and told by his boss, I knew you were younger than you told me you were when you were hired but you were such a good working that I could not let you go. Forty-seven years later he retired. He worked his way into the rail mill and was a head roller. I remember going on a field trip and seeing my dad working. I admired his perseverance because that was a tough job. Some girls in my class had fathers who worked in offices, I felt sorry for them. Pushing a pencil while my dad made steel to make cars with!  He was like a Super Hero to me! It was one of the things I knew made my dad that  hero. As for my mother, she was the go to person. I learned "don't tell dad" from her.  I remember one night coming home from work and a Friday night out with the girls from my office. I was dead drunk and she cared for me, never saying a word, except, don't let your father see you like this. I once asked him why he never drank. He said that was what  single guys did. Once a man married, he needed to be responsible and take care of his phamily. 

I want some Kocman phamily photos like this one. When Troy graduated from high school and Kate from nursing school, earning her R.N. degree we were all together. Oh, there is that BoJon sheriff front and center wearing her shades and that sexy black top! Sissy's mom Joanne is the girl with glasses in my top first photo. She and I reminisce at times. We talked about taking the Greyhound bus all the way to Alabama with our mothers and a packed lunch of fried chicken! We had that chicken finished off before we hit Trinidad which is about an hour and 15 fifteen minutes away from home base! I can not believe we rode that bus all the way to Alabama which is about 19 hours by car! Add the Greyhound Bus time to that and....kids today have it so easy! We were stuck on a bus with nothing, no i pods, i pads, phones, zilch! Guess what? We entertained ourselves and it made us closer as cousins. Today it is so easy to entertain yourself with frivolous stuff. Unimportant junk! Phamilies today are torn apart, spread across the miles, and most make no effort to stay in touch.

Joanne has cousins that are also wonderful BoJons. Although their mom did not like the term "BoJon" she preferred sLOVEnian, the Mencin phamily were good people. Their folks came from the old country. The younger brother Mark recently passed away. So sad. He was a year ahead of me in school and a good BoJon kid. When I was a high school freshman he helped me get a date with one of his friends for the Sadie Hawkins Dance. Mark had the same friends from school all these years later who grieved the loss of him at such a young age. BoJon's are kind that way!

Uncle Louie turned 70 years old in 1978. We had a big birthday bash for him at Auntie Ann Petkovsek's home. He loved the kids and all his sisters. He was left with a huge responsibility at age 18 when he lost his dad and younger brother in 1927. He did a lot for all of us and so did my parents. They gave everything they had for each one of their children. Whether people today acknowledge that I will never forget my folks and their good hearts. If there was work to be done they pitched in. When someone needed help with a financial situation they were there. My only regret with my dad was he did not live to see me repay my mother every single cent he lent me to move from Pueblo to Denver in 1983. He and my mother helped me raise my first born child, until I married my sweet hubby and you know, I don't say this a lot but when my husband asked my dad for my hand in marriage in 1984, my father was at peace. When he passed away a year later, he knew Avery would take care of Noelle and I. I never turned my back on my phamily. None of them. When I don't see them, I pray for them. I am sickening today at the shape of the American phamily. No regard for their roots, their siblings, their hometowns. People walk away as if these things never existed. When I lost my folks, I can tell you word for word the exact last conversation I had with each one of them before their untimely passing. When I am called home to go with the Lord, I will not have to answer for turning my back on my phamily. There will be no regrets there.

I know I can talk a lot! I learned it from my mother! Dad was quiet, she was full of words! Colton, my youngest grandson and his girl Jacey are a serious item. I said to him recently, never, turn your your back on your phamily. Once you do you will grow old and regret it. Everyone loves their own people but when you are in a serious relationship you need to learn balance.  Each phamily is important, make that balance work. I won't tell him that a second time, I don't meddle.  I just know plenty of people with guilt, hardened hearts, sad and bitter feelings....I am grateful to God that I am not one of them. Now until next time...