About Me
My name is, Mikolaj Cygan. I was born in Romania to a beautiful Rom couple. My mother was a singer, whose family migrated from India and my father was a violinist, born in Romania. I was raised on campsites and traveled by caravans of horse-drawn carriages.
As a boy, I sang, danced, played the fiddle, panhandled - anything to survive. We were a family of low means, but there was always alot of love to go around.
Our travels took me to many enchanting lands and I've only settled for a short time in a small village outside of Krakow, Poland. That is where me and my loving wife, Tsuritsa, decided to build our life together.
We loved each other very much and before long, our first and only child was born. We named her, Luminitsa, which means "little light" in Romani. She brought such joy to our lives.
The winters were very hard and one year Luminitsa became gravely ill. After a few weeks of struggle, she passed in the night. Tsuritsa never really recovered from her death.
Every day, Tsuritsa would go to our daughter's grave and sing a song that her grandmother taught her. My heart would break everytime I heard that melody, but to hear her sing was like listening to the angels worship their Creator.
One Spring, while I was out tending our animals, I heard a scream coming from the direction of our home. I dropped my staff and ran to see what could be so alarming. When I arrived, I found Tsuritsa's sister, Tsura, standing over her - crying. Tsuritsa apparently had ingested a lethal amount of Worteman's Root.
She died before I was able to say goodbye.
My one attempt to settle down from my inherent, nomadic lifestyle was both brief and painful. I first lost my daughter to sickness and then my wife to grief. The only thing I knew to do, was to wander.
After I tended to Tsuritsa's funeral and burial, I sold everything I owned and left my village. I have never been back, since.
In my blogs, I will share my journeys and take you to the beautiful places I have seen.
No land, however, was ever as beautiful as my sweet Tsuritsa.
I will love her eternally.
M.C.
