Ačiū Elena Pimpiene
Elena Pimpienė nee Šutaitė Mano močiute, my grandmother, or čiute as we sometimes called her was a great part of my life . Growing up my family would spend each Sunday with them and parts of the school holidays. We grew up with them speaking Lithuanian, with some English thrown in. Looking back, I can see how much of their culture they passed on, but at the time they were just my grandparents. Elena was born in a small village in the Dusetos region to a farming family. Her early life was the farm and looking after her grandmother. When she married my grandfather, they moved to Kaunas before making their way to freedom in Germany. Their young daughter died on the way, but two more children were born in the camps. After arriving in Australia, they settled in Adelaide, raising their two children. The family over time exploded to in-laws and five grandchildren. Močiute was a great cook, and food was always plentiful a...