Bela Krajina Part 3: Finding Stanko!

As we were getting ready to leave the vineyards to return to Ljubljana, Gregor received a call from Tone Plut in Semič. He said he had found our relatives and did we want to return? We had had a long day by then, and Gregor had already provided more than we hoped and we didn't want to keep him too long. But he was willing, so back to Semič to meet up with Tone.
We followed Tone to a house on the site of Vrtača 19, Myj's grandfather's birthplace. The current house is new, built by the current resident, Stanko Plut (no relation to Tone). Stanko pointed out where the original house was, now his front yard. A barn/shed still remains and is in use. Stanko doesn't speak English, but with Gregor's help, we found out that Stanko is the grandson of Jose Mihelčič 's sister, Neza (so Myj's 2nd cousin). Stanko brought out some photos of his grandmother Neza, Joze, and, to our surprise, Myj's Mom and Dad, as well as her Uncle Ed and Aunt Dorothy. Tone had his accordion and began playing "Oj,Maricka Pegla" (earlier Myj had told him that was the only Slovenian song she knew the words to). That was enough to start the crying (Dennis was first, when he noticed the picture of Anne and Frank).Read more