Anna's story
Anna is Bronie's mother.
Anna Obach, on the right, and her mother "Babu" (Bronie's grandmother).
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This is a story about a woman, who, as a young girl, dreamed of coming to America. Leaving behind the oppressions and poverty of her country, she overcame the hardships and tragedies throughout her life. This is a true story. I've written it just the way she told it to me.
Anna Melanec was born in a small community in Austria in the principality of Galicia. She was a middle child in a family of three girls. Her father was employed by the post office; her mother took care of the home and family. They lived in a duplex house located on a small plot of land. Her uncle and aunt occupied the other half of the house.
Her father moved out and left the family when Anna was just a little child. No one ever explained to her why he left. She would have been upset and missed her father more had she not had her uncle living next door. She adored him and her aunt. Occasionally, she would run into her father when she went to the store, hoping he would buy her some candy. Many times she would come home empty handed. He helped very little, if any, towards the support of his family, thus forcing her mother to get odd jobs to help out.
Her mother became the unofficial "village doctor", healer and midwife. With no medical education, she relied on intuition, common sense and an instinct for herbs and potions gleaned from her ancestors to help heal the sick of her village. Perhaps she tossed in a goodly potion of prayer, also, being a very devout woman.
Her uncle was very good to them and helped as much as he could. Anna's mother would often say how fortunate they were compared to others. They had a nice house and always enough food to eat. Anna spent many happy hours with her uncle next door. She felt so close and secure with them. They looked forward to seeing her and missed her when she didn't come for some reason or another. Lately, she noticed the two of them weren't as jovial as they used to be. She wondered what had happened and it worried her, but she was hesitant to ask for fear of hurting them.