Researching My Roots

According to Ancestry DNA, Myj is 97% Eastern European, from this region (no surprise). The Mihelich grandparents immigrated as teenagers, when Slovenia was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The maternal (Gornick) grandparents immigrated later: grandfather Marco before World War I, grandmother Anna and Uncle Johnny after the war.
Myj visited Slovenia in 1974 while on an 8 week backpack through Europe trip with her dear friend Cathleen Greiner. Myj's mom, Anne, was also on a European tour during this time, as a chaperone with the St. Anthony Boys Choir. We met up in Venice and took the train to Ljubljana in what was then Yugoslavia (an Iron Curtain country). Thankfully, Anne was a bilingual Slovene speaker, so that made things much easier. While there, we stayed with relatives (Anne's cousin Lojza Gornick and his wife Zofi), met more relatives and were able to visit the area where our ancestors lived.
Myj was able to contact a cousin, (2nd cousin?) Boris, who we hope will be able to join us for lunch while we are in Ljubljana. Boris, who is a little older, escorted Myj and Cathleen out for a night on the town in Ljubljana in 1974 and later visited Oregon.
Meanwhile, Myj has been trying to fill out the family tree info on Ancestry (easy, since brother Joe has already done so much work). We are excited that nephew Mark Mihelich and wife Carina, who live in London, will be able to meet us in Ljubljana for the weekend and visit the Bela Krajina region where the grandparents were born and lived.Read more