Hello and welcome to Lackluster News. Thank you for agreeing to the interview, are you nervous at all?
MB: Oh no, not at all. I’m happy to help. I love this city, anything I can do, I will. [sipps coffee]
If you don’t mind, we would love to ask you a series of questions in regards to growing up and family life. Could you tell us about when and where were you born?
MB: I was born above, in Boston, Massachusetts. But I don’t remember much. I have warm memories of them, but that’s it. I was three when they died
How did your family come to live in Lackluster?
MB: Well, my parents died. It was a drunk driver and they was plowed off a bridge into the Charles River. Oh, no I’m not sad. I mean [coughs] I miss them, but my uncle Alexej was my parental appointed guardian. I couldn't have asked for a better parent. He’s been in Lackluster for eighty or so years. So I came here when I was three... And I haven’t left. [laughs]
And how would you best describe your family? Would you say it’s a healthy relationship?
MB: We Bakalowitz are a small tribe, but we strong as hell! [laughs] My uncle is the best person-- ever. I adore him. He id an engineer for the city and raised me, as a single dad. And is always my biggest fan. I still go over for dinner at least once a week. He my only family I got and we cherish every moment we have.
What do you now about your family surname(s)?
MB: We’re Slovakian. So from what I know, Bakalowitz means ‘light bringer.’ My best guess, is that my family was one of the chandelier lighters of the Habsburg Palace. Or fae beings... Who knows! [laughs]
Did you have any nicknames while growing up?
MB: [thinks] Um-- I don’t think I had any nicknames... [smiles]
Would you say your guardian/parent was more strict or lenient?
MB:Oh gawd. Alexej was the best. I mean I had my rebellious phase.You know, snuck out, drank under-age... yada... But I loved Alexej, and respected so much that when he asked, I told the truth... So I tried no to get caught [winks and giggles].
What family member did you look up to the most?
MB: [gulps coffee] My uncle. You try being a single dad raising a very active little girl. [laughs]I’ll saw his sewing has improved--immensely!
Do you still own any childhood items or family heirlooms?
MB: I still own my teddy bear that my mom made for me when I was a a baby. It is the only tangible thing that I have from my biological parents.
What is your favorite childhood memory?
MB: Oh gawd. [runs hand through hair] My tenth birthday, my present was a number puzzle. [dryly laughs] Alexej has a Numermancy. And I inherited the love and understanding of math ‘n numbers. So a lot our family conversations would be number games. [laughs] We’re nerds.
What was a typical family dinner like? Did you have any favorite dishes?
MB: My uncle was the best cook. Because he and I have spent most of our life here in Lackluster, so we have cook traditional Bohemian dishes: roast pork, schnitzel, pork mince meat pies, and cheese perogies. [makes a yummy sound] Gawd, you’re making me hungry again.[laughs]
Does your family have any special traditions?
MB: Um-- Not really. I mean none that I can think of. I guess we would purposefully sing ‘happy birthday’ outta key-- My uncle tried to throw be a birthday party a few months after I arrived. But I had no friends, so it was just me a Alexej. And he tried to make it sound like a chorus of ten people. It was soo bad! But, ever since then, him and I try to sing the birthday song as bad as we can muster. Then we stuff ourselves with cake.
Where there any childhood games you enjoyed playing?
MB: Pattern games! Oh my, I love those games that make to guess what was next in the patters-- and Sudoku. Uncle Alexej and I would spend hours trying to trip each other up of math games. There was one time where he made my breakfast as a pattern. Gawd, that was fun. [laughs]
Could you describe your childhood home? What was your favorite thing about it? Least favorite?
MB: I think there was one time, where I lashed out. I was right after--um, right after the incident-- When Danny Tribas died. It was the night after it happened and I told Alexej that I wish it was him that died in the car crash with my parents. [takes an nervous sip of coffee] I had no idea that I had Erokensis, My whole life, it was assumed that I’d be just like my uncle. I thought so too... But I think that is my only really least favorite moment in my home. My uncle is the best I could have asked for. He makes me feel so close to my dad and mom. He was so close with both of them. That every time that he tells me a story about them, I feel like I know my birth parents a bit more.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
MB: I think it was a ballerina?! [laughs] Honestly, I changed my mind so many times, I was basically an etch-a-sketch with my ideas.
Of all the things you learned from your elders, what do you feel has stuck with you the most?
MB: Alexej always taught me to be kind to others. Just because they were different, didn’t mean that they were better or worse. And Kaliyah, she was my mentor and the person that taught me to control my ‘power.’ She spent the rest of my high school career teaching me how to control my allure and Steinbeck. She’s the reason why I work at the library today. I owe a lot of me, to her today.
Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to meet with us. I know that all of us here at Lackluster News appreciate it. On a final note, if you could go back and give any advice to your younger self, what would it be?
MB: Be patience. That’s probably what most people would tell their younger-selves. But fifteen-year-old Mila was a b-i-t-c-h. She wanted everything now... And I had no idea how powerful I really was. I do not envy Alexej for raising an Erokinetic hybrid. Almost everything that was going on was foreign to the both of us. He always did his best. He is my family. I would just tell my angst-y self to just trust the man. He knows what he’s doing... mostly. [laughs]
