Vid, a young man from the village, had just started his own business. He had worked as a carpenter with his father for many years and now he was trying to make it on his own. He was very enthusiastic about the Zanton renovations.
“Would you be willing to give me a chance to be your contractor for the new doors and windows? I would make them and install them. I have a new line, not yet seen by anybody in the valley.”
“Your proposal sounds good so far, but — ”
“And before you say no, let me propose some set conditions such as: All the wood would come from your forests, as there is plenty of it. I will make the doors and windows and install them. This will serve me as advertising. Furthermore, I will give you a good deal, and half the payment will be in cash, the other half in wood. That way, I could make more doors and windows and sell those to other customers. Would you please at least consider my proposal?”
Mark saw him again the next day. “Vid, you are very convincing. Lucille and I have talked it over and we are accepting your offer with those conditions,” Mark was happy to say. “Lucille is very excited about the whole thing and can’t wait to start the renovations.”
The project was to begin the following spring.
“In the meantime, we’d better get everything else ready, so that we won’t lose too much time once the demolition starts. We can’t afford to let certain things get wet.” Lucille was bursting with excitement.
“We still have plenty of time to get most of the wood and store it over the winter.”
“Mark, are you happy?” Lucille inquired.
“On one hand, I can’t wait to get started. But I feel for Helena. She is getting all sentimental over the log end of the house. She was born there, as were the rest of us. She has lost a lot over the years; and now, she is about to lose her nest.”
“Do you want me to have a talk with her?”
“I don’t think that is what she needs, since she likely blames you for starting this ball rolling, if you know what I mean?” Mark was being truthful but trying not to hurt her feelings.
“But maybe she needs to vent and, given the chance to do it at me, she just might feel better for it.”
“You are either incredibly brave, or an idiot, for exposing yourself to such a prospect of verbal abuse.” Mark laughed and hugged her. “You are not afraid of anything.”
“You are wrong! I am afraid of many things; but at the same time, I am a foolish, born optimist.”
“That you are, and that is one of many reasons why I fell in love with you,” Mark said.
Coincidentally, this young Vid was no stranger to the family. He was the one who helped his father build the coffins for Grandpa and Grandma Zanton, as well as for Mark Jr. His father was still in charge at the time. Therefore, Vid was comfortable in dealing with the Zantons.
The rebuilding of the old Zanton home started well and progressed well. Other than a few much-needed professionals, the labour force was available right in the village. It was the custom that when one of the villagers was in great need of help, the others would pitch in, and that way it never took too long to finish any project.
After the house became a total wall structure, it lost some of its previous aura of history and tradition, but gained elegance. The stone walls remained untouched, except for the new windows. The stucco made the house look clean. The double front door was replaced with a new replica of the old one.
“We have to do something about that table under the tree,” Lucille gently suggested to Mark.
“I know exactly what we can do about that.” Mark was being sheepish about it. “And that will be a surprise for you, so just forget about it for now.”
Two weeks later, while Lucille worked on rearranging the inside of the house, Mark presented her with a new table and benches for the front of the house.
“Oh Mark, this is great!” Lucille was in tears — happy tears.
Although unnoticed by many, the tabletop was in reality one of the old mill’s grinding stones, one of the small ones. Around it were wooden benches, another Zanton heirloom, and there were others on the property.
Vid also presented the Zantons with a miniature wooden two-steeple church, to be placed in the middle of the landscaping at the north end of the house. It had real bells, real doors, and stained-glass windows. It was an invaluable gift and it complemented his work.
“That young man will go a long way,” Mark said.
Helena sort of agreed and at the same time approved of it in her own way. “I must admit, there were days when I lost plenty of sleep over this renovation; but now, I am glad you did it. Too bad Father is not with us anymore. He would have approved of it — that I am sure of.”
In October 1949, there was a letter from Joe. Mira, Ivan, and Lucille were happy to have received it, but if you watched Lucille’s eyes while she read it, you could see that it would be the very last one from America. There was a closure in it that said goodbye without the actual words.
“I don’t think there will be another one from him,” Lucille said with a heavy heart, and her brother and sister agreed with her.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Marie and Janko
AT THIS POINT, MARIE HAD BEEN SEEING A YOUNG MAN for several years. His name was Janko.
“Mom, I am telling you: that guy is not good for Marie.” As usual, the bossy and interfering Vera was on the rampage again. One might think that she had enough of her own problems and no time to spare for others.
“Vera, I don’t know what’s come over you! Your father and I happen to approve of him, and so do your sisters. What is eating you?” Lucille protested.
He came from a good family — in fact, a substantially better one than Vera’s husband, Darko. There was a possibility that Vera was envious of Marie’s good fortune in finding such a good young man.
“Vera, I want you to promise me that you will not interfere with Janko’s work. He has faithfully helped us all through the renovations and now he has taken a big responsibility upon himself to build the mill. Stay away from it all.” Mark was stern.
“But Father, I am not objecting to the mill, I — ” and before she could continue, her father cut her short again. This miniature electric mill was to become a descendant of the old mill. It was to be used only for the family. Janko was clever. He had retrieved one pair of the stones from the old mill and used it in a small addition to the barn, which he also built.
Everyone knew that the old mill could not survive without Grandpa. After all, HE WAS THE MILL!
This young man had potential and loads of willingness. But Vera kept digging and digging for faults.
“Mom, we are trying to be strong and trying not to let Vera break up our relationship, but it isn’t easy. Can’t you and Father do something to stop her from interfering?” Marie pleaded with her mother.
“I will have a talk with her and see what can be done,” Lucille responded.
“Vera, you are being unreasonable and you know it. You have your life and you must let Marie have her own life, too. We all happen to like Janko. The girls are happy whenever he comes, not to mention Marie. You, of all people, know how it feels when someone interferes with a love affair.”
“What is going on here?” Mark walked in on their discussion.
“Father, you can see it my way, can’t you?” Vera burst out.
“See what? Vera, are you being unreasonable again?”
“Fine, I am leaving. Nobody wants my opinion anyway, so why bother.” She stormed out.
To Mark and Lucille, Vera was simply just Vera. Don’t pay any attention to her, if you know what is good for you. That was about it, and so it went on. She simply had regretted marrying Darko. In her warped mind, she believed that she was destined to run the farm after young Mark died. So why marry somebody who would never have agreed to stay on a farm. That was simply out of
the question.
Vera refused to face the fact that young Janko was going to do a great job running the farm without needing her. Marie was having a hard time with all this. But Vera was relentless and she rebelled left, right, and centre.
In spite of everything, Marie and Janko asked Mark and Lucille’s approval to get married.
“We have an announcement to make: There is going to be a wedding in our family in the near future, and we want you all to participate and wish the young couple all the best,” Mark said.
After which, Vera freaked out completely. “I have worked here the most, and now you are willing to let Janko take over — ”
“There will be no arguing here today, as this is a happy occasion. Furthermore, you got married and went to live elsewhere; so you did not work here the most.”
“We all know that Marie has always been your favourite, Father. You think she is always right but you will regret it.”
It was at this point that Janko decided to stand up to Vera. “Vera, you have a husband and two children. Shouldn’t you be concentrating more on them than on our relationship? We are not trying to impose on anyone, or argue with anyone. All we want to do is get married and hopefully raise a family. All I am asking is that you give us a chance.”
Needless to say, as soon as those words were spoken, a whole new game began.
“Mom, don’t you want to know what we think about Janko? We like Janko and Marie is crying a lot when Vera comes home.” Leni was speaking for both of them, with tears running down her cheeks.
“Now, Leni, don’t you worry about anything. Mom and I will look after this, as you are still too young to understand these things.” Her father was trying to soothe her and Silvia.
“Mark, I have to agree with Janko and I sympathize with Marie but I know our children. Vera will never quit, and Darko is jealous of Janko. Therefore, the four of them will likely never get along. We must see to it that we balance the situation for the time being. These four characters will someday hopefully grow up and realize that they are hurting others as well as themselves.” Lucille reluctantly backed off for the sake of peace.
Unfortunately, Marie and Janko finally gave up and split up.
“Not only did Vera ruin my life, she had help. Mom knows who is right and who is wrong. Everything happens for a reason, so someday I just might find out what the reason was. I can’t go against my parents. I hope we will remain friends (I mean our families).” Marie, hardly able to speak, tried to reason things out the best she could.
But years later, Lucille said with a heavy heart, “I definitely regret not having sided with Marie regarding Janko.”
However, Marie could no longer feel the same toward her mother, and there grew a distance between them. Something was missing. After all, it was Marie who always helped in the kitchen, not Vera. It was Marie who stayed at home (not by choice). Janko was her first love and was now gone. “I had two dreams in my life, and both have been washed away.”
“I know about Janko, and I am with you on that one, but what was the other?” Leni wanted to know.
“I used to dream of working in a nice store, hopefully in a city. Once Mark died and I was the next one chosen to run the farm, I made the best of it. The second was Janko, and we could have been very happy — I know that. We had so much in common. He was the love of my life.”
There was a time when Vera, Mark Jr., and Marie were like a different generation from Leni and Silvia. It is hard to know if it was for convenience alone or whether it could have been the war that changed things. Life was not ordinary during the war, and neither were people.
“I always disliked the way Silvia and I were treated as babies. It was well meant, I know that, but we had no say in anything. So we paired up and never let go — as you well remember?”
“The two of you were at that innocent and vulnerable age when you still had to be protected. It’s a good thing. Therefore you managed to have a more or less normal childhood . . . don’t you think?”
“Oh, yes, talk about innocent,” Silvia interrupted laughingly. “I remember a time when Mom was angry with Mark and chased him through the orchard, holding a broom — he laughed so hard that she almost caught up with him. Then suddenly she turned to the side so he wouldn’t see her laughing with him. So there I was, at first running with them, wanting to know what happened, or perhaps helping Mom, but when she turned around, I was totally confused about the whole thing.”
“So what happened then?” Leni smiled.
“The thing was, Mom never wanted to catch him in the first place but I was too innocent to know better. You would never have known that there was a war going on.”
“Animals also help in times like that,” Marie recalled. “Remember how Bruno laid his head on Mom’s lap after Mark died, to console her in her grief? With her heart so heavy, holding the whole world on her shoulders, Bruno (as old as he was) did his part to comfort her. That unconditional love and devotion can melt you and somehow it helps.”
They all had many happy memories of young Mark.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Mark Says Goodbye
OVER TIME, A PERSON CAN GROW PHYSICALLY, emotionally, and also spiritually. Then often there is growth with tragedy, which is the hardest, yet the greatest, teacher.
In January 1950, Mark collapsed. He and Lucille were now facing yet another crisis.
“I could see this coming,” Helena cried. “He hasn’t been well for a long time, but lately he has looked different.”
Lucille summoned John, who saw Mark collapse right in front of him. “Get Dr. Loncar immediately!”
“Mom, what is going on here?” Marie came running into the kitchen.
“Don’t tell the girls until Dr. Loncar comes,” Lucille told Marie, who protested: “What do you mean, don’t tell them?” By now, everybody and anybody were running in to see what was going on. Mark was lying on the floor, pale as a sheet and not moving.
“Go and get Monika, please,” Helena asked Milena. But Monika was herself in bad shape.
By the time Dr. Loncar arrived, Mark was able to sit up and was quite surprised to find himself on the floor. He asked to be picked up and put to bed, in which Lucille happily obliged.
“You certainly demand attention in a strange way,” Lucille scolded lightly.
“What happened?” Mark wanted to know. At that moment, Dr. Loncar entered the room.
“My dear man, you have cancer,” came the blow from the doctor. He had known Mark and Lucille for many years and knew that they would want to hear the truth instead of his beating about the bush with excuses and evasiveness. Medically speaking, this was expected sooner or later, as Mark had never quite recovered completely from his surgery during the war.
“This is serious. I will run some tests; but I would say, off-hand, you have about six months to prepare yourself for the end and get your affairs in order. I hate to be the one to tell you.”
Mark took the news very well. “I want everything to go on as usual. And for now, nobody is to know, other than the immediate family. I know that you feel the same. Am I right?”
“Yes, Mark,” said Lucille, “I do. We need some time to digest this, especially you. This is unreal.”
However, the news leaked. Helena found it too unbearable to keep it to herself, which everyone understood, including Mark. The thought of living in this house without Mark was not something that Helena could easily accept. She had to tell somebody. “I have no fear of Lucille. I know that Lucille will provide for me when the time comes, and I am crazy about the girls. It’s just that Mark has been a tower of strength for me for a long time, and now we are losing him.” She burst into tears. “This is the second brother that I am about to lose. Why doesn’t God take me instead? Mark has so much to live for, and Lucille will be crushed. I know she is strong, but one can only endure so much. Believe me,
I know.” As she spoke her arm twitched more than ever.
Lucille was contemplating how to handle the stress without its being too obvious to the family. She knew that Mark needed her now more than ever, and the family would fall apart if they saw her too distraught. Leni was a great help, here. She was very flexible and willing, which gave a big boost to her mother’s morale. Silvia, only twelve years old, was feeling extra lonely.
“Mom, why are you limping? What is going on?” Silvia noticed a slight unease in the way her mother was walking.
“Nothing is going on. Why do you ask?”
“I can see that you are limping,” Silvia persisted.
“Oh that. I am just tired. You need not worry about me. And your father is quite comfortable. Why don’t you go and see him? He will like that. See if he needs anything.”
Before long, Lucille was limping a lot and was unable to hide it. At the next visit to Mark, Dr. Loncar examined Lucille’s legs and asked her to come into the office for x-rays. That didn’t sit well with her and she made it quite clear. “I really don’t have the time to come to the office. I will be all right.”
“I will see you first thing Monday morning,” Dr. Loncar said before he left.
Marie and Leni were by now the main source of contact with the hired help. These people had always been wonderful and were looked upon as part of the family. They had helped raise the children, running the house and the farm in general. So, no matter what, the work was never too disrupted. The main decisions had to come from the family members, but the process was up to these people most of the time. Everyone had their work outlined, including the girls. Silvia was the one to fetch things and to take lunch to those in need of it while working in the fields. She was the one to go and get the groceries for Mom and to help the staff. She was a “gofer” and having a good time doing it.
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