by Jule Kucera | Jan 16, 2022 | Blog
Audio: Who Is This Woman? In this case, I’m not referring to some aged name on the family tree. I’m referring to the one who birthed me. Laurie, my psychologist friend, had prepared me to go back to New Jersey, to the place where I sleep on an air mattress because...
by Jule Kucera | Jan 9, 2022 | Blog
My great-grandfather, Emil F. Folda, was born in 1866 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and was brought to a sod house near Heun, Nebraska, as a toddler. The family relocated to take advantage of the Homestead Act and soil with fewer rocks. His mother died when he was 12; at...
by Jule Kucera | Jan 2, 2022 | Blog
Audio: Shocked by a Catholic I grew up without religion. I don’t know if that’s the continuing influence of my great-grandfather or my parent’s active choice. We had a Christmas tree with presents, and chocolate bunnies for Easter, but I never knew the basis for those...
by Jule Kucera | Dec 26, 2021 | Blog
Audio: Two Days Before Thanksgiving When I first heard this story from my father, the news came during the Thanksgiving meal. But according to his grandfather’s journal, the news came two days before, on Tuesday. My great-grandfather was Emil (pronounced EM-ee-ill)...
by Jule Kucera | Dec 23, 2021 | Blog
I hope I’m not interrupting, since this is a Thursday. On my walk this morning—cold with brilliant sun—I had an idea and if I wait until Sunday, it could be too late. Earlier this week, my psychologist friend asked how I was feeling about seeing my mother. I said it...
by Jule Kucera | Dec 19, 2021 | Blog
Audio: The Sins of the Parents Back when I was in the fundamentalist Christian church, I read the Bible a lot. It was a status symbol to have a bible showing signs of wear from heavy reading. Covers that fell off were replaced with a slab of thick leather. Center...
