One from Lithuania, two from Chicago and two from Springfield, but all “Lithuanians in Springfield” for the moment, met this past Wednesday, November 13, for a lively dinner at Little Saigon.

By pure coincidence, the company and the conversation spanned all three major waves of Lithuanian immigration to Springfield (and the U.S.): two of us were descendants of the First Wave of Lithuanian immigration around 1900, two of us were descendants of the Second Wave just after World War II, and one was from the post-1991 Third Wave that has come ashore mostly in Chicago and the British Isles.

We talked about everything from the constant evolution of the Lithuanian language in the old country while immigrant communities preserve the language frozen in time, to the possibility that the missing St. Vincent de Paul’s “war dead” plaque might have been placed in another local church.

Two of us actually spoke Lithuanian–working out possible translations of Grandmother Marcella Yuscius’s saying, “butt like a stove.” (You had to be there).

Can you guess who the Lithuanian speakers in this photo are?

Young Asta talked about making a special Lithuanian Christmas pastry for the Lithuanian-American Club’s upcoming Christmas Party.

If any of my other readers has an idea for a get-together, please let me know–it could be fun!

Many thanks to Asta, Judy, Maria and Joan for helping to bring my online blogging experience, for a few magic hours, into the real world.