Magyar Egyház, 2004 (83. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)

2004-10-01 / 4. szám

14. oldal

MAGYAR EGYHÁZ

THE UNKNOWN

Albert Wass

“Papi is always there”

Everyone has the right to live after death. It is a crucial existential and faith issue. In its popular form, people hold the belief that you are alive until you love or are loved. The trail is not completely lost. This writing is not about the writer whose name reminds people of dramatic historical changes, the Trianon trauma, war, the national loss of Transylvania. I won’t speak either of the classic writer from whom the immortality cannot be taken away. This time, I will introduce the man whom I recently met. A man who looks just like you or me. I will share a special picture of him who was a dedicated calvinist, a faithful member of the Hungarian Reformed Church in Transylvania and in Lakeland, Florida.

Not long ago, before hurricane Charlie hit, I visited the Czegei Wass Family archive. The three storied building is packed with books and manuscripts. That must be quite normal and befitting. The whole space though arose my devotion. The air was filled with holiness as if a bit of the writer’s spirit was still there. Something, however, captured me. It was during browsing the thousands of photos — to select the right ones for our future publication - that I realized I saw the man in an unusual light. It surprised me and I am still caught. The faded pictures showed the thousand faces of Transylvania, the charming scenes of his childhood, the castle of Szentgothard with the park, the moments of huntings, and of course the groups with famous people of the Marosvécs meetings. Then, the family photos from Germany and finally hundreds of pictures with the Ohian and Floridian homes. So many beautiful moments of his life: as the boys were growing, as the writer is accompanied by friends from different Hungarian communities. But most remarkably, there are quite many photos as the man is accompanied by his large family. Group photos in the garden, around the big tables, in front of the church, and pictures of outside adventures in the forest, at the lakeside, the family with dogs, horses, of course the male members of the family holding guns or fishing rods. All these reveal pictures of happy family gatherings and the memories of visits with the extended family of grandchildren and greatgrandchildren.

In one of his letters, the writer described such a family event in a humorous way: “We celebrated the birth of Christ and the love toward one another with 32 family members. What a Christmas it was ! The seven greatgrandchildren lasted their loud activities through the whole week, and there was so much upheaval that we did not know if were were coming or going in the house. After new year’s day it took a while to find ourselves again ready to work in silence and peace.” (A delayed thanking letter, manuscript, 1983.)

Sometime earlier, the family had a big holiday with a large crowd, gathered in the Lakeland Hungarian Reformed Church. The contemporary pastor’s report recorded this noble

family event in this way: „ We baptized the grandchildren of the excellent writer, Albert Wass de Czege, the children of his two sons, Huba and Géza and Huba’s wife. Six years ago my predacessor, the Rev. Lajos Novak officiated the wedding ceremony of Huba Wass with his American wife in our church. Since then, he has been going through Vietnam. The officer of the American Army, who became a general this year, and a teacher of the Military Academy (West Point) wrote me a letter in which he requested that his two children and his wife be baptized in our church in which had had married his wife. Then, his brother, Géza, joined in requesting the baptism for his son. I received the water of the river Jordan from an American coleeague, that I used at the baptism. (Note: later the writer’s son Miklós and the stepdaughter Anne also have baptized their daughters in the Hungarian Reformed Church, Lakeland.) The extended Wass family with 33 members partook the worship service. After the baptism, they took the Holy Communion. Then, we all had a delicious lunch made by the women of our church. It was a magnificent celebration that we won’t forget. The ancestors of Albert Wass served the Erdély Reformed Church as Curators. He who became one of the greatest Hungarian writers in the exile is a faithful member of our church, although he lives 125 miles from our the Lakeland church. Both he and his sons are good Hungarians and good brethren to us, wherever they might live.” (Rev. István Balogh, Bethlen Naptár, 1976, 291 - 292. Note: the event was in 1975.)

One of the writer’s sons wrote a memoir about the stories of the writer’s seven last years. Let me give only a few sentences, because this detail contributes to the authenticity of the picture about the unkown Albert Wass:

“Some of the most memorable hunting trips were days spent walking shores of Lake George. The last time Dade went hunting with us was in 1991. He just turned 83 years old, and was still able to out shoot us. The gratification of hunting was not the kill, but the peacefulness of the forest during the pre-dawn hours while waiting for the sun to rise, the birds starting their morning ritual, bouncing from limb to limb on a near by tree, and observing the morning fog as it began to rise, while the sun cast rays of light through the trees, creating tiny sparkles on the morning dew - how he enjoyed it. (Geza Wass de Czege, Albert Wass de Czege’s Last Seven Years, 1998. March.)

Now I realize what was a striking sign to me while looking at the photos. There were no group photos from family gatherings from the time Mary became the lady of the house. The smiling face of the writer disappeared. All the joyous family events decreased in the 1990ies - due to frailed health, weakness of the aged, and a selfish wife who destroyed the idyllic atmosphere. Not only the family, but the friends were also banned. All the beautiful memories reminding of Elizabeth and of the big family were exiled. A man’s life turned to nightfall. There is a tragic anticipation of negative changes. All these are recorded in the memoirs. Let me quote one passage expressing reality from that time: “ Dog have been in the family for years, as well, and Dad had a saying that “you can judge the character of a person by the way a dog reacts toward them.” It was strange to see the progression which transformed the life of Pajtás, his last dog, from a house