My cousin Brian Marynowski is our tour guide today. Our first stop was at Love Canal, which used to be a thriving neighborhood here in Buffalo until buried toxic waste started seeping into basements and bubbling up in areas where kids played. Ultimately, the contaminated area was evacuated, and attempts to remediate the place were undertaken, starting about 30 years ago. It was just a few years ago that Love Canal was moved off the Superfund site list, but I doubt anyone will be living here along these decaying streets again in my lifetime.

Water spilling over rocks to form waterfalls is so much more than a simple description. The roar of the plummeting waters with rising mists catching the sun to produce countless rainbows reminds us of the force that water is when it’s not sitting in a pool or lake, just playing home to some fish. Our second time here, and still, we’ll not be venturing out on the river below that takes visitors to the foot of Niagara Falls, but one day we’ll get out there.

That’s Brian Marynowski between us and the city of Niagara Falls, Canada, behind us. As where Buffalo is in a state of decay, the city across the river is thriving. I think some of the differentiating characteristics between the neighbors was that one embraced change and diversity while the other, afraid of losing their blue-collar past, held onto ideas of how things should stay the way they were and that it was everyone else’s fault their city was faltering.

This beautiful corner in Buffalo is Our Lady of Victory Basilica, which is also referred to as Father Baker’s.

Inside, Our Lady of Victory compares with many of the cathedrals of Europe.

This amazing temple to the divine Beef on Weck should be considered a holy shrine as they are not only the creators of this Buffalonian delicacy but have been a fixture in this city since 1837. This was where we had lunch, even though Brian insisted there was somewhere better. I closed my ears to that argument and didn’t note the address so I could remain a purist and maintain my loyalty to the one and only Schwabl’s.

The visit to Mount Olivet Cemetery was an unexpected surprise as I’d not previously considered that many of my relatives found their final resting place here in Buffalo. The cemetery is located at 4000 Elmwood Ave.

Here lies my paternal great-grandfather Robert Knezetic, born Blasius, who was father to my grandmother Amelia Wise.

His wife was Lillian, also known as Luba; she was born in Croatia as Louisa Priezula.

This is my paternal grandfather, John Alexander Wise. He was a giant in my eyes, but I later came to understand that he was an angry and raging man who lent that quality to my father, who, in turn, tried to let me inherit the trait. I hope that the ugliness in this bloodline dies with me.

This was my dear grandmother and a woman who certainly loved her grandchildren. She endured a very hard life of deprivations, mostly created by her husband, my grandfather. Her health started to deteriorate in the late 1970s, and she passed away at the age of only 64.

To finish off our second full day in Buffalo, Aunt Lillian prepared a picnic BBQ for Brian, Jonathan, Jacob, Caroline, and myself. Sadly, I wasn’t able to snap a photo of my favorite aunt as she’s not been feeling well with her diabetes. This dreaded disease is what killed her father and her brother, and now it’s her nemesis, too. Hung out talking for the rest of the day enjoying the nostalgia of lives lived in the City of Light – Buffalo, New York.