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When I was as a child in Ostrov on holiday, the river Blanice had so much water that in many places even adults could not stand [1]. The river was full of fish, and we often had white fish, perch, pike and sometimes even eel for dinner. For my great-uncles Anton, Bohouš, Karel, and Johan fishing was both pleasure and benefit. As children we went to the forests to pick mushrooms, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries. This was enrichment to our menu. I remember that there were crayfishes in the creek on the way to the forest. Once I went with Karel to catch them. But I found them so ugly that I refused to come along a second time. My great-uncles were very enterprising; they cycled, went swimming and played volleyball. I remember their carts, which they took into the forests to collect wood. At that time, cooking was done in wood-fired ovens. It was a nice heat, which heated not only the kitchen, but also other rooms. That's why back then the forests were so clean and tidy, not a single branch or fir cone lay on the forest floor. I write this down because now as my life is coming to an end, and after the many years I have not been to Ostrov, these memories are very clear.

I imagine meeting these long deceased people on well-known places and paths, as if decades had not already passed. Our great-uncles and grandfathers, who came from Ostrov, were: Franz, Anton, Karel, Bohouš, Johan and Josef. Even today I see them clearly, playing cards, walking around with a book in their hand, or talking to each other. Their children were: My grandfather Franz had Marie, Táňa, Otilie, Růžena, František and Karel (darling of all, because he was good-looking and charming) [2]. Anton's daughter was Andělka (she actually reminded an angel, because of her gentle nature and delicate appearance) [3]. The children of Bohouš were Anička and Ruda. Johan's children were Mařka and Jenda. Karl's daughter was Lidka (I liked her very much due to her kindness and laughter). Everyone liked being together, enjoyed life and good mood. We played theatre together, made a parade when going for barbeque under the rocks, or danced to the music of record players; young, old and children. It was peaceful in Ostrov back then. Maybe I'll embellish my memories by keeping only the pleasurable ones. The uncles had no big income, so they lived modestly, but contently. In particular, they lived from what gave the house, garden, forest and river. My mother loved the Ostrov, so we used to spend our holidays here.

At home in Prague she was always very busy, and she often has left me with aunts or maids during the week. She herself came Sundays. Sometimes she would take time off and then stay the whole week. She was always elegant, had beautiful dresses and smelled of French perfume. She was distant from my life. In Ostrov she played passionately cards with my great-uncles. That's why I didn't see her much. (It's weird that I'm the only one in the whole family who inherited her passion for playing cards.) Only later, when she married her second husband JUDr. Vokoun (a honorable man who loved my mother endlessly), she calmed down a bit and we got closer [4].

My mother had a unique relationship with Ostrov, particularly since she was born here as the eldest daughter of František and Františka Mančalová. Around 1900 her parents had a farm, an inn and a shop there. Already as a child, my mother had to take care of the shop. She went on foot to school every day to Velíš and to the secondary school to Vlašim [5]. She often told me how terribly afraid she was, especially in autumn and winter when it was dark in the morning and in the evening. She was the only one from the whole village whose parents wanted her to go to school in Vlašim, 7 km there and 7 km back.

At the age of 15, her parents sent her to an uncle in Vienna, where she was trained as a modist. There she had endured the First World War, with all the horrors, cold and hunger. On her return to Bohemia she became a successful businesswoman. The Czechs wanted Czech shops and Viennese elegance, and my mother could meet both requirements. However, her greatest wish to buy her own house in the beloved Ostrov was denied to her. During the time she had the necessary means for a purchase, nobody in Ostrov would sell her a piece of land. This was the disappointment of her life. When the children grew up and their uncles' houses filled up, she had to move into different places, sometimes uncomfortable ones, but she would not give up Ostrov. For years she took care of our son Michal during the holidays with Pepa [6], who, like me, spent his holidays in Ostrov during his childhood. In spring and autumn, we often went to visit Beauforts in Zbraslav, where my beloved aunt Otilie lived [7].

I often imagine how happy my mother would have been, since together with Miloš we now own a house in Ostrov with the view on Blaník [8]. In this way her wish came true, and I also bought the house to be reminded of her. In Ostrov, she appears to me again and again together with Pepa and with the others who are already dead, all together in their best years and full of life. Without them, I am sad in Ostrov.

Marcela Borkovec, 2001

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