She always loves to explore. These days, she’s a college professor who teaches world history. It’s a career she loves because it combines her two favorite things; educating others and discussing global events.
In recent years, she had expressed interest in exploring Eastern Europe. Unlike her past adventures, this was purely for personal reasons. My mother has distant roots to that part of the world. She had a desire to explore her ancestral homeland and learn about her family heritage.
That was the only place she hadn’t visited yet.
The timing wasn’t an issue. I was a college student and my mother was a professor. So that meant we both had breaks during the same time.
And off we went…
***
It was exactly what I expected. Eastern Europe had a small town rustic feel to it. It was like a hybrid of the very old and the very new. But it was the ‘very old’ which interested my mother. She wanted to see the history behind these countries. She wanted to know how her distant relatives lived.
We traveled from country to country by train. One of those old fashioned trains that are big and loud. But the interior of the train had been renovated for elegance. It was a fun experience. Especially since I had never rode on that kind of train before.
During our last night in an Eastern European city, we took a long walk and admired the city. We looked like typical tourists wandering around. My mother had a camera and she took a lot of pictures.
As we headed back to the hotel, my mother put the camera away. We needed to get our things and get to the train station for an overnight ride.
We were about to cross the street to reach our hotel. A few feet in front of us was an elderly woman who looked like a street gypsy. She seemed to walk onto the street without looking, while a car was speeding her way.
I was about to stop the lady, but my mother did it first. Even in her middle age, my mother still had the reflexes and athletic skills she had when she was younger. She tried her best to always stay in shape.
My mother was able to swiftly grab a hold of the elderly woman before she went in front of on-coming traffic. The old woman immediately realized that she was a split second away from a horrible accident, and she was extremely grateful.
The elderly gypsy thanked my mother in a form of broken English.
“There’s no need to thank me,” mom replied. “I’m just glad you’re safe.”
“You are very nice woman.”
“Oh, please, don’t mention it.”
“You tourist?” the gypsy asked in a heavy accent. “You like country?”
My mother smiled. “I think it’s beautiful here. Some of my ancestors were from here. But that was centuries ago.”
Just then, the gypsy gave my mother a long and hard stare. It was like the gypsy had a deep revelation.
“I can see past. Royal family background. You.”
My mother gave a polite nod. “That’s very nice of you to say. Make sure you have a safe night. We can help you cross the street if you’d like.”
The gypsy took out a tiny metallic ball from her pocket. She spit on it. Then she rubbed her hands together and said something in her language. The gypsy grabbed my mother’s wrist and pulled her hand forward.
Then the gypsy gave the small silver ball to my mother.
My mother didn’t seem fazed by the elderly woman’s saliva in the palm of her hand. After all, it was meant to be a friendly gesture.
“I see past,” the gypsy said. “You will see past too.”
With that, the gypsy walked away in a different direction. It was an odd encounter, but we were glad that my mother was able to save someone’s life.
***
That night. It was our last train ride for the trip. We made the most of it with a nice fancy dinner in the dining area. As the train turned, we had a view of the full moon. It looked bigger & brighter than anything I had ever seen in America.
“What a sight,” mom said. “I wish I had my camera right now.”
“You don’t need a camera for that. Maybe we can come back next time.”
She took a bite of her food and nodded. “That’s not a bad idea. This trip was more satisfying than I ever could have imagined. I learned so much.”
“It was definitely a lot of fun.”
“I’m so glad you enjoyed it,” she said with a pleased tone.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“I wasn’t sure if you were going to be interested in the historical aspects, frankly. I was afraid that visiting the ancient places was going to be boring for you. But I’m glad you had fun.”
“Well, I had a great teacher on this trip.”
She blushed, “Thanks.”
“You know, we should seriously come back next year. There was so much cool stuff that we didn’t have time to see. Can you believe that we have a background with the royal family?”
“My grandmother used to tell me that,” she replied. “I had always assumed that she was just being a typical grandmother. I never thought she was actually serious. Granted, that royal lineage was from many many centuries ago.”
“The question now is, how did that old gypsy lady know?” I said in a jokingly playful manner.
“I’m sure she was just trying to be nice. Especially since we’re tourists.”
“Plus you saved her life,” I added.
“That too. But in this area, it’s filled with small towns. Mathematically speaking, if you traced people’s lineage around here, many of them would have royal backgrounds if you look back far enough.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.”
“That’s just the reality of mankind. We’re all inter-connected if we trace our roots far enough.”
“But still, don’t you think that was kind of creepy? The way she looked at you. It was like she knew something.”
“I’m not a superstitious person,” she replied.
“Well, you never know.”
That conversation ended when dessert was brought to our table.
***
Late that night. After I brushed my teeth in the bathroom, I went to our private sleeping room.
My mother had been laying in bed reading a historical book for the last hour. Since my mother was a professor, she was used to reading fast and efficiently. And by the time I got there, she had already finished the short book.
“Well that was interesting,” she said, putting the book down and adjusting her pillow so she could sleep.
She laid flat on the bed and got cozy. She wore a simple outfit: a tshirt and sweatpants. She was barefoot. As usual, she was braless.
“Learn anything new?” I asked, climbing to the top bunk.
“Trust me, you don’t want to know. It’s not something that I would recommend learning about.”
“But you finished it,” I said, getting under the blanket.
“It was odd, but fascinating. People around here used to have some strange practices, at least by our standards. Maybe you can read it tomorrow if you want. Good night.”
Pages:
[