Finding Croatian Family

My daughters asked me to do a "guest blog" for this week about my adventures in Croatia last year. A couple of years ago my sweet husband thought we should take a trip to Croatia and look for my relatives. My paternal grandparents were both born in Lika, Croatia in the 1890's and immigrated (not together) to the United States when they were in their late teens. Both settled separately in Whiting, Indiana with other Croation immigrants, and subsequently met and married in 1924. After my grandmother died in 1963, we lost touch with her family in Croatia.

Anna and Jack Manovich (my paternal grandparents)

Last October we headed off to the Lika region with just an old address of my grandmother's sister. Within one day, with the help of our bed and breakfast host, Vlado, we found my second cousin--her grandmother and my grandmother were sisters. She was so excited about meeting us, that the very next day she and her son-in-law drove 2 hours to Gospic and brought pictures that my grandmother had sent over the years to her sister. The pictures were of my dad when he was little and my dad and mom's wedding. There was even a picture of me when I was about 7 years old!!


We were able to spend three days with my cousin and her family and became part of the family. It was like we had always known each other, while we were talking and talking about our families and our lives in different countries. I plan on visiting again next summer and am hoping that some of our Croation family will make the trip to Ohio some day.


Looking for your family can have wonderful and exciting benefits, as well as making new friends.