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Twelve Dr. Joseph Kazickas's letters will be on display at the exhibition "Together For Life," which will travel around Lithuania together with "The Life of Joseph Peter Kazickas"s exhibit celebrating his 100th anniversary. Currently it is on its way to Palanga. Today the Kazickas family presents this special exhibition and share one of the letters.

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Together For Life

Dr. J. P. Kazickas’s (1918-2014) Written Treasures

It is our Father Joseph P. Kazickas’s Centennial, and we would like to share with you some information about him, especially his personality traits which are little known to the public. His legacy is vast and broad. He was not only a successful businessman, but also a patriot, a diplomat, a sportsman, a patron of the arts and a true visionary of technology’s role in the development of a free Lithuania. But most of all, he was the loving and devoted husband of Alexandra and the best father to all of us, his five children.

J. P. Kazickas was a writer, an editor and one of the founders of the Lithuanian magazine “Towards Freedom”/”Į Laisvę”. He wrote articles on historical figures, politics, and his views on the world situation. He also crafted inspiring speeches which he was often asked to give to the Lithuanian-American community and other organizations.

And he wrote letters. Many of them.

It was only in 2017, after both our parents were deceased, that we discovered a cache of more than 100 letters that J. P. Kazickas wrote to his wife, Alexandra Kalvenas Kazickas (1920-2011), carefully stored in boxes in our family home. These treasures, personal and intimate, were written in impeccable Lithuanian - though they were living in America - and span most of their lives together, from 1943 until 2009. Most were written when Joseph was travelling around the world for business. He wanted to make sure that his wife and children felt his presence and knew how much he loved them and missed them. (When his children were older, he took his whole family to see far away countries and offered many wonderful trips to his wife in order to spend time with her alone. )

As much as these letters are our parents’ gift to us, we feel they are a gift to you, too. Today, we are sharing only brief excerpts from 12 letters along with some lovely pictures of our parents. All the letters are in Lithuanian and neither the grammar, nor the style, has been corrected. Joseph Kazickas often called Alexandra “Pupa,” his word of endearment, which can be translated as “Sweet Pea.” For this exhibit, English translation is included as well.

Through these “precious letters” J.P. Kazickas:

- communicated his commitment and devotion to his wife, children, relatives and Lithuanian friends,

- preserved his values, stories, insights and musings

- shared wonderful discoveries of the world and his philosophy of life,

- linked his children and grandchildren to their heritage and inspired them: dreams can indeed become a reality

- expressed his gratitude to God, to his parents, and especially to his wife of 70 years in the most sincere and poetic language, full of detail and color.

These letters are a testament to the power of love.

Writing was therapeutic for Joseph and it gave him strenght and solace, knowing he had a family waiting to hear from him at home. For Alexandra, these weekly, sometimes daily, letters brought her peace of mind and comfort while she was at home caring for the children. Sadly, we have none of the letters she wrote to him while he was travelling, but we are fotunate to have her diary, hundreds of hand written pages in a journal, bound in linen with Lithunian folk motifs and a tricolor sash. She kept this book safe and close for decades throughout their odyssey as refugees in Germany and new Americans.   

In her diary entry of July 7, 1955, Alexandra wrote :”My husband loves me dearly. And how wonderful that after he leaves, I receive exceptionally beautiful letters from him. They are full of love, sincerity, appreciation and happiness of being together.”

We feel so blessed to have these letters full of family history, world adventures, spiritual and philosophical thoughts - along with thousands of family photos. The words and pictures so eloquently present a portrait of Joseph and Alexandra - in love for life and together for eternity. 

When honoring our father on his 100th Anniversary, and in memory of our mother’s love and committment to our family, we hope to inspire you to celebrate life, always give thanks, take beautiful pictures, and write to your loved ones. We hope you will see the magic in these handwritten love letters.

Jurate, Joseph, Michael and John Kazickas

Kazickas Family Foundation

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Below is an excerpt from one of the Dr. Joseph Kazickas's letters written to his wife Alexandra in 1947:

1947 08 08 New Haven, CT, USA

“(…) My thoughts are reaching back in time when, hand in hand, we were walking down that  long street and did not want it ever to end, but to stretch until the end of the world. And to this day, we are hand in hand, since that evening when with burning cheeks and pounding hearts we were walking down that street which is interminable and for sure,  will never  separate us.

I remember when we were sitting on the bank of the lake and were admiring that beautiful view. (…) And the sun was setting so beautifully. We were enveloped in happiness and enormous joy. Again,  we are sitting in a carriage taking, now three of us, to a dreadful unknown. The unknown, which will later become America.

I tremble sometimes, when I think of the inevitable fate that is hanging over us and everyone who was born in this world. The fate that rips fire out of the warming hearth, and scatters memories like ashes, leaving only a pinch of dust, which does not speak to anyone, nor reminds us about the immense love which was beating in the hearts of two people and flowing in their veins!”