This is a beautiful story of synchronicity told by a young Lithuanian woman who is currently training with me.
Story from the woods
It was a hot summer in Lithuania, I was 21 years old. Me and my friend decided to travel with bicycles for a week in the rural region of Lithuania called Dzūkija. It is quite unique region with preserved traditions from the past of Lithuania. Full of wooden crosses on its rural little empty roads which is a protection symbol, full of poems and songs, full of sadness.
Wooden cross.
Mostly elders live there, it is rich with forests, rivers and mesmerizing wild nature spots. It was a very beautiful trip, full of mysteries, chats with local people, nights in a tent near the lakes with fires. One day we were traveling through very small roads, small villages, it was hot summers day, we stopped in a little local shop to buy ice cream. The woman who was selling the food started a conversation with us, she was very interested in our trip. An old man entered the shop, he looked very mysterious, old age, he was wearing weird old hat. The man smiled at us, bought something and went out. After spending some time in the shop chatting with the woman, we continued on our journey, went through the magical wooden bridge and appeared in beautiful green fields with flowers and big oak trees.
Bridge we passed
We met the old man again, he smiled at us and went on. We stopped to make some pictures with the old oak trees. Following the little path that cars can’t pass we met the old man a third time, he laughed and this time started speaking with us, we exchanged a few words and he asked if we have visited the old partisan called tiger house in the woods. We said that we didn’t. He explained to us how to get there, we thanked him and went on through the woods. And there it was an old wooden house in the woods with a beautiful apple tree garden. There was information board saying that one of the most famous Lithuanian partisan called “Tiger” lived here who was fighting for the independence of Lithuania. He was taken to prison by Russian army and tortured for years as well as taken to Siberia. He had terrible traumas, tortures and struggles in his life. He said that nobody can break human, who believes in his ideals, spirit. We walked in the yard, there was an underground cellar where he was secretly writing and publishing Lithuanian books, songs, poems to keep Lithuanian language alive.
Secret underground books and newspapers publishing cellar as well as hiding place.
I peeked at the house and got a thought that maybe he is still living there. I noticed that the house window was open. I knocked. And there he was small, old, old man, partisan tiger he opened the door, asked who we are. We said that we are traveling with bicycles and he let us in his house. He showed us the room full of books and pictures, awards. It was his collection of books and newspapers he and others published in the occupation time as well as many pictures and awards for his work for Lithuania.
Me, my friend Gytis and “Tiger”.
“Tiger”, Juozas Jakavonis.
We sat at the table, someone was trying to open the door and the man explained that it was his wife who has Alzheimer illness and he is taking care of her. We were sitting quietly and I was thinking what I should ask this man, he had this incredible peace in his face and wisdom. I was thinking about all those terrible events he encountered and amazing bravery he had. I asked if he could sing us a partisan song. He sang a song about a girl, falling in love. Then he said that he sang this song in the train station in Siberia, Russia for a girl. He said I often tell this story. I met a girl in Krasnoyarsk train station, Siberia, I saw that she was on her own, a bit scared. A few men came up to her and started speaking with her, looked at her watch, I saw them before and I realised that they were thefts, I shouted something loudly, the security man came out and the group of men quickly ran away. I went up to the girl to speak with her, we spoke in Russian, soon I understood that she was Lithuanian. I asked her what she is doing here and she said that she is going to come back to Lithuania after her exile years in Siberia, I was worried about her, because at that time it was still dangerous to travel back, I sang her this song that I sang to you. I never knew if she made it safely home, to Lithuania. She was called Dailydaite. My ears went up, I asked if he remembered her name. He thought for a while and said her name was something like Valytė, Valė. My heart started beating as it was my grandmother’s name and my grandmother’s surname. I asked what else he remembers about her, the partisan said that she was from Vilkaviškis region in Lithuania. That was where my grandmother was from. My heart was beating and I said to him that it is probably my grandmother that he met. I immediately called my mother and asked if my grandmother went by herself from Siberia. My mother confirmed that she did, from Krasnoyarsk train station, the year was also the same like Tiger remembers. I said to the man that it is my grandmother he had met, she came back safely, I am her grandchild. He was shocked, tears appeared in his eyes, he said I tell this story my whole life and now I know that she came back safely to Lithuania. Later, I vaguely remembered that my grandmother told me a story once about some thefts in Russian train station, that they asked about her watch and something else was in the story but I couldn’t remember… My grandmother spent 10 years in exile in Siberia, she was taken from Lithuania by Russian army when she was 12 and came back when she was 22. When I met this man, my grandmother was already dead, so I couldn’t tell her. But there she was speaking with me through this man, Tiger. When Russian army has taken my grandmothers family to Siberia, they didn’t have anything as they house has been burned by Russian army, they quickly grabbed a bag of linseed that neighbours has given them. When they arrived to Siberia, they only got a little bit of bread for a whole family for a long time and they would have died if they wouldn’t have taken the bag with linseeds. They were making a paste and eating it little by little in order to survive and they did survive, because they took a bag of linseeds and because of many other synchronicities. Tiger and my grandmother were speaking to me about the hardships and struggles they had gone through and there was life there as well, despite the horrors, there was urge to live, to pass life on and to come back home, to Lithuania. And here I am alive, tall Lithuanian, full of wonders of life and full of hard tasks to travel through and see the light.
Another bridge we passed after meeting with Tiger.
House in Dzūkija, Lithuania and me with the bicycle.
