This is the Knezetic family circa 1928. Robert Knezetic and Louisa Priezula were born in Croatia. Louisa went by the name Luba while in Croatia but adopted Lillian after immigrating to the United States through Ellis Island in 1905. Robert was an adopted name, too; he was born Blasius, or Blaz for short. Robert was born in Ozalj, Karlovac, Croatia, on February 1st, 1886. Lillian was born on March 10, 1888; she, too, was from Ozalj. In the back row of this photo is my paternal grandmother Amelia on the left; she was born on October 18, 1918. Next up are John (born Dec 24, 1913), Bob (born Robert on Oct 27, 1912), George (born May 15, 1916), and Frank (born May 29, 1921). Between Robert and Lillian sit Anna and Mike (born Sep 3, 1924).

This is John Alexander Wise and Amelia Knezetic on their wedding day, they are my paternal grandparents. John Wise was born on December 10, 1918, in Berford, Ontario, Canada. His mom’s name was Hattie, born in 1898, and her husband was Cornelius, born about October 11, 1892, in Blenheim, Oxford County, Canada – my great-grandmother and grandfather. Hattie was also known as Hally. Her mom was Ellen Denby (also known as Alice). Born in 1871, she married John Farrell on September 12, 1887, in Brant, Ontario, Canada.

My great-great-grandfather was Alexander Wise, born June 8, 1837; he was married to my great-great-grandmother Margaret Irving, born April 27, 1859. This side of the family came out of the Ontario, Canada, area. Alexander was known to be of Germanic descent.

Ellen’s father was Richard (Morris) Denby, born June 5, 1837, in England – this would be my great-great-great-grandfather. Richard was married to Sarah (last name possibly Morris, there is confusion in the records); she was born March 22, 1840, in England. These two immigrated to Canada in 1868.

John Farrell’s father was Robert (McLeod) Farrell born in 1844 in Berford, Canada. John was of Irish descent; he married Lydia McLeod (this could be the maiden name; again, the records are not clear).

Lillian Wise during her senior year in high school. Lillian was named after her grandmother and would share her nickname of Luba, too. Lillian was the older of John and Amelia’s two children.

This is my father, John Michael Wise, Sr., born in Buffalo, New York, on March 16, 1945. He inherited an angry temperament, though those who would never know that side of him found him a charming and engaging man. His time on our planet was short, and by the time he was 44 years old in 1989, he was starting to suffer the effects of a hard life. Smoking, factory work, poor diet, and a lot of stress led him to his first heart attack. From that point forward, he would have at least one more heart attack and start to deny the health impacts of being diagnosed with diabetes. Through continued neglect, he ultimately saw his lower extremities removed, and then on February 2, 2003, the same day the space shuttle Columbia blew up, my father exited this world. From my dad, I likely inherited his love of reading, music, and dealing poorly with anger.

This is Flora “Penny” and Mike Knezetic on their wedding day. They lived their entire lives on Alberta Drive in Buffalo, New York, behind Mike’s older sister, Amelia, and next door for several years to his younger sister, Anna.

Dressed up for someone else’s wedding, these are Anna Knezetic (born in 1926) and Woodrow Burns. However, by this time, I believe they were already married, so this is Mr. and Mrs. Burns to be proper.

Robert (Blaz) and Lillian (Luba) Knezetic in their last photograph taken together. Robert passed away in 1962, and Lillian the year after.

On the left is Hattie Brooks (maiden name may have been Denby) with Lillian Wise and Joe Marynowski, who are getting married, and my great grandmother Lillian (Luba) Knezetic on the right, who was a widow by this time. This is the only known photo of Hattie and the last photo taken of Luba.

I’d guess that this photo was taken around 1966. In the very front, lying down, is my grandfather John Wise. Sitting on him is one of my cousins with her sister just behind her on her right: this should be Judy and Nancy. Their mom is Jean, who was married to Frank Knezetic (not pictured); she’s the woman seated to the left behind the small dog. Next is Mildred Knezetic married to one of the boys, an unidentified woman, and Bob Knezetic. In the far back row is an unidentified man, Lillian, and Joe Marynowski, I believe that is Anna, followed by Mike and John. Standing in front of Mike should be his son Mike Jr, and the two girls to the far left are most likely Linda and Donna, who are also children of Mike and Penny.

Uncle Mike is still living in the same house he’d lived in since getting married. He would pass away five years after this photo was taken, two years after his wife Penny passed.

Engine House Number 26 in Buffalo bears the family name Kurchhoff on a plaque to the left of the big red door. The name Kurchoff (current spelling) was also found on Millard Fillmore Hospital before it was torn down and several other buildings around the Buffalo area. My family, on the maternal side, was involved with construction and design during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

This is 44 Fuller Street in Buffalo, New York, within walking distance of the Niagara River. It is also the former home of Robert and Lillian Knezetic. We also visited 21 Manchester Place which was the first home of John and Amelia before moving to Delta Road. We also drove by the All Saints Church and School on 127 Chadduck Avenue, where my aunt Lillian fetched my sister and me after my mother abandoned us.

Lunch was at Ted’s Hot Dogs, and while we are so lucky to have the only Ted’s outside of Buffalo in Arizona, there’s nothing like going to one of the originals. Afterward, we went back to Anderson’s Custard for one last taste.

After a short day and a half, we are already taking leave of Buffalo. While I’m delighted to be back here at 109 Delta Road, I’m also conflicted by my history and family dynamics that have left me awkward in these kinds of social situations. I may wish for the kind of family relationships I so often see among others, but sadly, it was never meant to be in my cards. Time to go.

We headed out of Buffalo in the direction of Albany. We left the I-90 to catch Highway 8 north towards the Adirondack Mountains. Stopped to take this photo near the village of Poland, New York.

Sunset out near Cold Brook, New York

It gets dark early this far north in the fall. From here, we still had more than a few hours of driving before we decided it was time to stop.

We believe this is Piseco Lake, but we’re not sure; what we are sure of is that when I shot this image in the fading light, we hadn’t seen the six crosses over at the lakeshore just left of center. Our trip ends tonight in Rouses Point, New York, at the Anchorage Motel on Lake Champlain, just across from Vermont. Guess where we are going in the morning?

I should point out one more thing: today, America went to the voting machines trying to decide who would replace Bill Clinton. Will it be Al Gore or George W. Bush?

Arrived at my aunt Lillian’s late last night. This photo is of her and my father, John M. Wise Sr. Yep, I’m a junior, and it’s the first time I’ve seen this picture of the two siblings. Growing up in Buffalo until I moved to California to live with my father, my aunt Lillian and her husband Joe Marynowski were two of my favorites as they always seemed to be laughing or making my sister and I laugh with them. After my mother, Karen Kurchoff, abandoned us at school one morning when we were about 4 and 5, it was the paternal side of my family that cared for us so we could avoid foster care. I tended to understand the situation back then in 1968, with my mom being a mere 19 years old after getting pregnant back in 1962 at the age of 14 with me, but still, I was sent off to live with a man who had his own set of issues. Looking at this photo, I see the potential still beaming in a smile that might have let this boy grow up and enjoy life, but instead, he was likely witnessing behaviors that shaped the way he would deal with his wives and his children into something far less than stellar.

My aunt Lillian Marynowski, formerly Wise, and her grandchildren Jacob and Johnathan Marynowski. More than thirty years ago I spent many a day and night in this house as it was the home of John Alexander Wise and Amelia Wise née Knezetic, my paternal grandparents. I have fond memories of being here and can hardly believe that all these years later, I’m peeking in the refrigerator (looking for tapioca my grandma used to make me) and visiting the basement where she scrubbed my grandfather’s collars on a washboard by hand. Where the lamp and picture of Jesus are, there used to be a cabinet, and in the bottom drawer were the games that my grandfather had given me: Lincoln Logs and an Erector Set. I can still remember sitting in the living room (just behind my aunt Lillian) and watching Frankenstein for the first time and falling in love with horror movies, though I also can’t forget burying my face in a pillow for much of the film as it was too scary. Visiting after so many years away brings with it a wave of emotions and memories that in some way were buried and maybe are better left in the past, but here I am in the face of nostalgia for good or bad.

The intersection of Delta Road and Charlotte Street in Tonawanda Buffalo, New York. I’ve played on these streets for several years and would walk around the corner to Alberta Drive to visit with my aunt and uncle Annie and Woody Burns and a house or two down Mike and Penny Knezetic and their three children. While Mike and Penny stayed in their house for the rest of their lives, as did my grandparents, Annie and Woody, moved to Goleta, California, which was in part why my father moved to California too. Years later, Annie and Woody would move back to Buffalo just across the street from my cousin Brian Marynowski, who at the time was caring for his mom, my aunt Lillian, in what had been my grandparents’ home.

Caroline Wise is stepping into Canada for the first time. We are on our way to Niagara Falls.

Our first grand view of Niagara Falls is seen from Canada, which happens to have the better views. We’d planned on taking a Maid of the Mist tour out on the water to the foot of the falls, but it had closed for the season only a few days before our arrival.

One hundred twenty-five feet below the surface, a 130-year-old tunnel system offers visitors a viewing and listening experience of Niagara Falls that shouldn’t be missed.

A viewing platform adjacent to the tunnel we were just in offers this incredible view and puts the Falls into a wholly new perspective. While we missed the Maid of the Mist this trip, we’ll come back someday and certainly make the journey to see the Falls from that perspective. The biggest joy for Caroline while here was seeing the incredible number of rainbows that shone brightly in the sun under clear blue skies.

Welcome to Fort Niagara on Lake Ontario in Youngstown, New York. We cannot believe our luck that the sun is shining, the sky is blue, and it’s a warm 50-degree fall day.

From the Old Fort Niagara website:

The three flags flown daily above the parade ground symbolize the nations that have held Fort Niagara. Each competed for the support of a fourth nation: the powerful Iroquois Confederacy. The French established the first post here, Fort Conti, in 1679. Its successor, Fort Denonville (1687-88), was equally short-lived. In 1726, France finally erected a permanent fortification with the construction of the impressive “French Castle.” Britain gained control of Fort Niagara in 1759, during the French & Indian War, after a nineteen-day siege. The British held the post throughout the American Revolution but were forced, by treaty, to yield it to the United States in 1796. Fort Niagara was recaptured by the British in 1813. It was ceded to the United States a second time in 1815 at the end of the War of 1812.

In all my years of taking photos, this has remained a favorite due to how much it conveys, how much it obscures, and the hints of color that come through.

Back in Buffalo, we spent the late afternoon and evening with Aunt Lillian, who indulged us with visits to two of my childhood favorites: Bocce Club Pizza for dinner and Anderson’s Custard for dessert. There are a few things Buffalo does well, pizza, custard, candy, and Buffalo wings are certainly out front. Brian and his wife Lynn came over and stayed a bit before leaving the kids with Grandma, with whom we talked late into the night. It’s a mixed bag, this going-home stuff.