The Story of Ruta

Ruth Ciucias, my grandmother and namesake, was self-described as “the epitome of complexity.”

Ruth was a talented artist. She was a published poet. She had met Robert Frost in his home, and went to poetry readings at Wesyelen University. She played a tenor banjo with gusto, and was a good show tune piano player who could sing a pleasant accompaniment. In her senior years, she became known at all nursing homes within a safe driving radius as the International Lady of Song, likely because she sang tunes in English, Polish, French, and Yiddish.

She was an avid gardener, planting trees, flowers, and a substantial vegetable garden in her longtime Connecticut home. But, there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and creative gifts can come at a cost. Ruth struggled with her mental health for most of her life—a chemical lineage.

Amongst her artistic pseudonyms, Ruta Mieta pays homage and respect to a woman I didn’t know very well, but who, as I saw it, excelled in the subtle art of not giving a f*ck. Ruta Mieta is an exercise in emulating a woman who put her art (her soul) out into the world with abandon.