BEST FRIENDS NOW LEGALLY RELATED

My mother grew up in the small town of Torrington, Litchfield, Connecticut.  The population of Torrington was 36,383 as of the 2010 Census. That may not seem all that small but it is if you’re related to half the town.  Jonas “John Michael” Grinvalsky & Anna Zaharek had seventeen children between 1901-1926, many of whom stayed in Torrrington, CT and had children of their own. John Michael Grinvalsky also had two sisters and a brother that came from Slovakia and settled in Torrington, CT. They all married and had between six and nine children of their own who then would marry and mainly stay in Torrington, CT. Anna Zaharek had two brothers and a sister come over from Slovakia as well and settled in Torrington, CT. Combined her siblings had 20 children born in Torrington who then had children and so on. Remember, this is just my mother’s paternal side.

Mom’s father is James Jacob “Jack/Jake” Grinvalsky, one of the seventeen born to John Michael & Anna Grinvalsky. He would marry Julia Margaret Tomala and have four children, mom being the youngest. In kindergarten, my mother would meet her best friend of sixty two years. They went through school together and both attended St. Francis Hospital School of Nursing in Hartford, Connecticut. After graduation, my mother went to work at Mass General in Boston, Massachusetts. Her best friend returned to Torrington, CT, married her high school sweetheart and had two children.

In 1998 what they had always joked about actually happened. One of her best friend’s sons announced he was engaged to be married. He would be marrying the granddaughter of my mother’s Aunt Susan Grinvalsky [her father’s sister]. The wedding took place in 1999 in Torrington, Connecticut with my mother in attendance. It was a beautiful wedding, but for best friends of 62 years it meant even more. My mother and her best friend were now legally cousins, remain close, and will be attending their 50th High School Reunion together this fall.

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