Grandma Mary

I've been thinking of my Grandma Jozwiak a lot lately. She was a great woman that only at the end of her life did I get to know well. She truly was the center of our family, everyone gathered around her on the holidays. Everyone came to her house. The drank, ate, played cards, visited, argued, and loved their family. But it was always about seeing her. Without my Grandma at the center, our family all fell apart and to this day we don't see the cousins and extended aunts and uncles. My Grandmother had a lot of hardship in her life; poverty, cancer, death of her youngest son, another son who went to war (my dad), a husband with heart problems. Yet she sowed great seeds and created a deep and wide family. And in the brief time I got to spend with her after my grandfather's and mother's death, before she too left us, I got to spend cherished time and learn about her and her life. She had a great smile, a great laugh, and I've always wanted to be able to speak Polish because of her.

When I see older people at church, and praying, I think of her. I think that she went to church every week her whole life. I think that she was a dedicated catholic woman, and despite a lifetime of hardship she never waivered. And I realize that my parents, despite all their faults and shortcomings, were the same way. They didn't make it to 80+, but all their lives they went to church. Every sunday. I don't know how much they understood about the religion, or if they ever questioned it. But I do know that they went, every sunday. And they dragged their 4 rotten kids with them, especially this rotten kid who wanted nothing to do with it. Even though my father took off as soon as mass was over to go watch whatever game was on at the time, he still went every week, and tried to go when he was away working. And it bothered him when he couldn't go, and it bothered him when his oldest rotten son came home from college and wouldn't go to Christmas mass with him. And even though my mother was miserable and unhappy with everything in life and had a rotten self-pitying attitude toward everything, and pushed everyone away from her, she went to church faithfully every week. And even though she had a rotten kid that didn't want anything to do with the church and faught her at every chance, she insisted that he went and got confirmed and learned SOMETHING about the faith. Thank God!

And I think of all this, and I remember my Grandma Jozwiak saying her rosary at her kitchen table, and I think to myself how stupid I was. And how great God is that He brought me back. Because that is a rich family tradition, and heritage, that these people were dedicated to because of faith and family. And I almost threw it away. It's a gift that has been passed down to me, and thanks to them I know the fullness of faith that exists in the Catholic church. Not just a bible class, or fancy music and slick words from an angry preacher. A full faith that offers so much, the body of Christ on earth to help me get closer to God. My family passed that along to me. In words and actions. It's a priceless heirloom greater than any inheiritance. It came to me from my parents, and grandparents, and great grandparents, and people I don't even know about that never lived in this side of the Atlantic. And it is TRULY a great gift. God is wonderful, thank GOD!

Take care for now.

Tom