Today we went to pay our respects to Michal’s parents Bedřich and Olga and his dear beautiful cousin, Lucie Kolařova at the family plot in a little village outside of Prague called Čestlice. It reminded me of the article I wrote for “The Bridge” magazine comparing both the Czech and Montana traditions on All Souls Day , so I felt it worthy of re-publishing here.
This week I am mourning the loss of another family member, my Uncle Norm Kenck, who lived and died in Montana. He was my father’s best friend from grade school and he married my Aunt Barbara and raised my cousin’s Bridget and Sean. He was a sweet, gentle man who was great at taking care of everyone but himself. He was a good ol’ rancher who happened to be a dentist with bad teeth. As Sean describes, “some kind of giant, lovable Disney character walking around in a Norm costume”. He was typically seen on the ranch wearing sweat pants and his dress shoes covered in shit. RIP Uncle Norm, may the angles take you into the deep blue Montanan skies.
From Polly to Pavla 
Dusicky – all saints is time of the year to remember our loved ones. Not an easy time of the year. People travel around Czech Republic to visit their graves and place chrysanthemum and light a candle on the grave. The cemetaries are so colorful at this sad season. I also went this week to visit my dad, he would have been 100 years old like the republic. He died ar the age of 56 as a result of the hard life under the communist and WW2.
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Hi Polly,
So sorry to hear about your uncle’s passing. Sending you a hug.
Bonnie
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My heartfelt condolences go out to you, Polly. Based on your portrait, I would have loved your Uncle Norm too.
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