Finding My Lost Relatives

It all started with a biking trip in 2012. When a friend invited me to join her on a guided tour, pedaling our way through the Baltic countries, I jumped at the chance. My ancestors came from the country of Lithuania to the United States but I knew nothing about the family that remained behind. 

A few weeks before I left, I discovered a box in my mother’s basement containing 3 letters written to my grandmother in the 1970s. Postmark: The Soviet Republic of Lithuania.  Behind the Iron Curtain!  

I couldn’t read the letters. They were written in Lithuanian. Nor could I find anyone in Indianapolis who could. But…on LinkedIn, I discovered a graduate student of English Studies at Vilnius University who could read and translate them. The charming lady, @AisteFausta, agreed to drive me around the country for a few days before my biking tour started. 

When Aiste met me at the Vilnius airport, I handed her the letters. And in 36 hours, I was toasting champagne with my long lost cousins! 

Thus begins the true story of how I discovered my ancestors.  

I’ve now written a historical novel that tells their stories based on what I’ve been told, what I’ve researched…and what I imagine.