Laura's Looking Glass
The next day, Laura and I braved cold and rain to go to
her flat in Riga. I wanted to to try and copy her collection of old family
photos. When they had only fifteen minutes to pack for Siberia, Laura stuffed
all the pictures she could in a sack. I didn't have good light, and only a few
of my copies came out. Here are my grandmother; grandfather; Laura (left) and
my mom (right); an original of my grandmother from 1920 (she was 42);
and the Leduskrasti family. My grandmother's sister is holding the infant on
the right. On the very right is Emma, who used to visit and live with my mom's
family. She tried to steal my grandmother's towels once after visiting for a
while, and her brothers and sisters stole Erna's (Arturs' sister's) one Lat
piece from her skirt pocket. They were definitely the light-fingered side of
the family.