Proud to be Czech - Proud to be a Simcik

Paul Matthew and Eunice Simcik had six children of their own.  Those six children grew up and had children of their own making 11 grandchildren.  Combined, the grandchildren had 11+ children amongst them and those great-grandchildren are now having children of their own.

I am one of those great-grandchildren.

I never knew my great-grandfather, Paul Matthew Simick.  He passed away at a very young age (45, I believe).  However, my great-grandmother, Eunice (Grannie, the grandchildren called her, G.G. the great-grandchildren called her), lived to be 97 years old!  I remember her as a little lady, very petite with white hair.  She wore glasses and always had her hair curled.  I remember she always had some piece of jewelry on.

Christmas has always been a very important holiday for our family.  Every Christmas Eve was spent at G.G.'s, no matter where she was living.  I only remember her living in a little 2 bedroom, one bath bungalow right outside of Whitney, TX not far from the dam.  You didn't miss Christmas Eve at G.G.'s for anything.  That was the time where our entire family gathered to hear of the news, gossip and going's on of the previous year amongst families.  That little bungalow was filled to the brim with food, laughter, reminiscing and family members.

After G.G. passed away each family started doing their own thing for Chrismas and it seemed as though the time between visits were few and far between.  I have cousins that I haven't seen in years.

My family opted to spend Christmas Eve at Mammie's house and that is what we have been doing since 1998, right up until this year.  This has been a tough year for me, and especally for Mammie.  She got through the stroke and the hip surgery, but now she is in a nursing home/rehab facility waiting for the day she gets to go home.

I had made the command decision this year to take on the task of baking Kolaches.  A Kolache is a Czech pastry with a fruit (Apple and Poppyseed in our case) center and sprinkled with a sugar, cinnamon crumble called Posypka. 

My whole life I have been eating Kolaches.  G.G. made them, Aunt Polly made them, Aunt Katie made them, Aunt Eva made them and a few years ago Mammie started making them.  The Kolache has been an important pastry in my family for years.  Unfortunately, most of my aunts have passed on and the two remaining Simick girls are to the point now where making Kolaches isn't feasable.  This thought truly broke my heart and saddened me.

So, being a descendant of Paul Matthew and Eunice Simick, I knew I must take up the torch, so to speak and learn how to make Kolaches.  This is a daunting task - it takes roughly 6 hours from start to finish to make Kolaches - a task I was willing to take on.

I bet you are starting to wonder, "Why a blog dedicated to a pastry?"  Well, it really isn't about the Kolache, you see, it is about why I was inspired to take the time to bake the batch of Kolaches.

I had found myself working up to Christmas Eve and being in a quite the bah-humbug mood.  I was sad because instead of being at Mammie's house, eating Mammie's delicious food we were going to be in Mammie's room at Colonial Manor spending Christmas Eve.  I know that isn't where she wanted to be - she wanted to be home too.  Every time I leave I just want to bundle her up and take her with me.  I know I can't because she needs to be there to get better.  I knew baking the Kolaches would make her feel some sense of home even though she couldn't be there. 

Mike was my taste tester.  He LOVED them.   I was so overcome with emotion when he said that I just cried.  I was so happy that I had made an edible Kolache!  He said I should be proud to give these to Mammie and my mom.  So I did. 

I took Mammie two apple and two poppyseed kolaches.  When we walked in I told her that I had something for her.  Not one to want gifts, she got this disapproving look on her face.  I told her that they were Kolaches - and I made them.  I think my uncle was more shocked than she was.  She didn't feel like eating one at that moment.  But, before we left, I gave her a kiss and she told me that she was proud that I had taken the time to make them and that she thinks I am the only great-grandchild that has ever attempted to make them.  I am waiting to go back to visit to see what she thought.

My mom loved them.  That is all that I needed.  I have now been deemed the new Kolache maker!

Even though my Mammie couldn't be home this Christmas, I brought a little bit of her home to her.  It is amazing how a simple Czech pastry can bring back the fondest memories and warm your heart and make everything better.

Ode to Mammie

If you have known me for any significant amount of time, then chances are you know all about my grandmother, Ruth Marie Simcik Toole.  We call her Mammie most others call her Aunt Reetsie and she goes by Marie to everyone else.  I gave Amanda the middle name Marie because of her (and a few other of my dearest friends who all share the same middle name) and I do most of everything I do because of her.  After my parents, she is one of my sources of inspiration.

Mammie lives in modest means.  For almost 50 years she and my granddad (who you will hear more of later) lived in the 5000 block of Vicki Street in Haltom City.  I can remember the day she moved out of that house just like it was yesterday.  She moved in at that time with her mother, my great-grandmother, Eunice Lonie McGuire Simcik; or G.G. for short.  After G.G. passed away she decided she would live in Kopperl.

A few blogs ago I wrote of Kopperl and the significance this tiny town plays in my life.  Mammie has lived there for quite some time.  It started with two travel trailers on the lot behind their antique store.  One belonging to she and my granddad the other belonged to my granddad's cousins who would come down every weekend with us.  In the beginning there were three; Aunt Bertie, Deenie and Maree.  I lovingly deemed them the Golden Girls.  Sadly, people pass away and  ultimately she sold both the trailers and converted one of the rooms of the antique store into a little apartment.  She has a sitting area, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom.  For her, that is all she needs.

Mammie is tireless.  For as long as I can remember she has been doing for others.  She took care of my granddad, Charles Clyde Toole, Jr., Pee Paw, as we called him, when he was diagnosed with Emphysema and Lung Cancer.  He passed in 1992, almost 20 years ago!  Time really does fly.  As I stated above, she then went and took care of G.G. She passed away in 1998.  I remember this because G.G. was born in 1901, she would have turned 97 in August of 1998.  After that, she just lived. 

Mammie would also give you the shirt off of her back and the last penny in her bank account if you needed it.  Mammie always helped my sister and I with our finances.  My parents did as much as they could to buy my sister and I the things we wanted and needed.  Mammie and Pee Paw filled in the gaps. 

I have never seen Mammie get mad either.  She has such a sweet demeanor and caring nature.  She also doesn't mind telling a story.  I could sit and listen to her tell stories for hours on end (even if I have heard them a million times).

Mammie is also very independent.  She will be 84 in December and she drove herself everywhere up until a few months ago.  And until Monday, she lived by herself.

She has seen alot, watched a lot of her relatives pass before her, witnessed a few wars, been alive for several different presidents, had a few different cars, held a few steady jobs, lived a few places and has never really been anywhere. She love watching the Rangers, the Mavericks and the Cowboys.  She loves Suduko and loves the weeks she gets to come and be with Amanda.  She enjoys cooking, especally kolaches and she wouldn't miss Sunday morning breakfast for anything.  She can play a mean hand of 42 even though she won't admit it. 

Monday I received one of the most devistating phone calls of my adult life.  My sister called and asked me if I had heard from Uncle Mike.  I told her I didn't receive his message and didn't hear my phone (it was in my purse).  She proceeded to tell me that Mammie fell and broke her hip, that she was in the hospital and they were going to have to do surgery. 

I was on my way to band practice and I couldn't leave practice...so I had to endure two hours of worry, angst, and frustration until I could get out and be there.  When I finally made it to the hospital she was there.  Laying in that hospital bed not looking like the Mammie I had seen a few weeks prior.  That was hard.  She was in good spirits though and spoke as if she wasn't in the hospital.

At the time they had her hip surgery scheduled for Tuesday.  Tuesday morning I took off work and drove to the hospital.  When I arrived she wasn't in the room.  My uncle had told me that they took her back to have a CT scan done.  They think she had a stroke.  When she returned, she did look as thought she had a stroke.  She had left side paralysis.  Again, not a sight I wanted to see in a million years.

To make an already long story short; she keeps having small strokes and until they figure out the cause of those, they can't fix her hip.

I know people can't live forever, but I was sure Mammie was going to.  I am closer to realizing that now that I ever cared to.  However, we all loose loved ones....the great thing though?   We get to see them again one day.

If you have never met my grandmother, you are missing out...if you have, you are lucky.  I hope that she has touched your life just like she has touched mine.  And for that...I will be forever greatful and never the same.