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100 years later, a great-grandson’s return to the old country.
By Nicholas Rando
Slovak culture has been woven into my life for as long as I can remember. In fact, some of my earliest childhood memories are of eating homemade pirohy and koláčiky at family gatherings, waking up to shoes filled with chocolates and money on St. Nicholas’ Day, and passing around the oplátky at our Christmas meal.
My grandma Joyce Kovac-Tokos, born in New York to a Carpatho-Rusyn mother and Slovak father, made sure we never forgot our Slovak roots, and actively encouraged us to explore them. When we were growing up, Grandma Joyce would often say: “Never forget! You have THREE great-grandparents born in Slovakia-you’re more Slovak than anything else!” and “You know, your grandfather spoke only Slovak until he went to school!” Often, the announcement of a trip abroad to a country other than Slovakia would be met with: “What about Slovakia? You know, it’s beautiful there, too!”
Growing up in a family of six siblings, a trip to Europe was out of the question. However, Grandma made sure we were in contact with our roots, even in Binghamton, New York. Every summer, she took me, my siblings and parents to Czechoslovak picnics and cultural festivals that featured traditional singing and dancing.
As a child, I didn’t realize just how fortunate I was to grow up in a family that truly loved and celebrated its roots. Now, as an adult, I am incredibly thankful to have been instilled with a love of my Slovak heritage, and consider it to be one of the greatest gifts I have ever received.
In 2022, when the Slovak government announced that many children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the Slovak diaspora would be eligible to apply for Slovak citizenship, I began to gather documentation that linked me to my three great-grandparents born in what is today Slovakia.
Though at times very challenging, the quest to search for paperwork became something of a family affair. Throughout the process, I became closer to my grandmother than ever before. At some points during the document gathering process, we spoke on the phone several times a day as she searched for documents, recalled details about immigration dates and shared stories of growing up in an Upstate New York town which thousands of Slovak immigrants called home.
Just days before moving to Slovakia in the summer of 2022, I visited the Ellis Island.
Alongside Grandma Joyce, my mom, and four of my siblings. For Grandma Joyce, this was a particularly special visit: Ellis Island was the very place where her father - Josef Kováč - had stepped off of the SS Ryndam and set out to begin a new life in America.
Now, 100 years later, her grandson was preparing to make the reverse journey back to the old country. As we stood in the New York Harbor that day, neither of us knew what the next few years would have in store. As I left to begin my new life in Europe, I set off on a journey of discovery that led to exploring my ancestral villages, learning the Slovak language and reconnecting with cousins and ultimately, being granted Slovak citizenship.
After a few months of living in Slovakia, I stumbled across the Slovak saying: trpezlivosť ruže prináša (Patience brings roses). I liked it so much, I wrote it down on a sticky note and put it on my kitchen wall, to look at whenever times were difficult, or I was feeling homesick.
Living in a new country is hard and working through the citizenship process is daunting, but every time I wanted to give up, I remembered the image of those words on my wall: trpezlivosť ruže prináša and kept going.
On October 30, 2024, my rose came in the form of Slovak citizenship. Although my family could not attend the event in-person; my Grandma Joyce, parents, and siblings were all awake in the middle of the night on the other side of the ocean to congratulate me the moment I stepped out of the okresný úrad (district office). I don’t have enough words to say how thankful I am to all the family, friends and all of those here in Slovakia who helped to make this dream come true.
When I hold my new Slovak passport in my hand, I see the past, present and future.
I am reminded of the many generations of Slovak ancestors who came before me; the incredible freedom that comes with being a member of the European Union, and opportunities to continue exploring and sharing my Slovak heritage for the rest of my life. Ďakujem!
Team Global Slovakia
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