Randy Suits

The Message from Ewa – Daughter of Antoni and Antonina

An excerpt from the book ‘Marzenei – Love Grows in the Crucible’

With appreciation in my heart for all that my parents and the Polish people who endured, survived and rose above the devastation, destruction and humiliation of a war to obliterate the memory of our great nation, I dedicate this book to my parents, my family, my friends and all citizens of Poland who lived, loved and overcame the fiery blast of hatred of World War II and the Russian occupation after the war. I have recorded, for history, how ordinary people and families found happiness and reason to live in the furnace of persecution, oppression and subjugation. Our desire for freedom could not be extinguished by the occupying Nazi and Communist Armies. Our love of life, our quest for freedom, our strong faith in God and our desire to hold fast to our proud Polish culture and heritage sustained us just as it did when Poland was partitioned by Austria, Germany and Russia. The restoration of the Polish Nation is living proof that Love Grows in the Crucible.

The Villa Marzenie, was my family home. I spent my childhood in it. It was a wonderful time of my life. I recall those years and the pleasure our family shared together. My Parents created a dream home for me, my older sister and my younger brother. They provided a wonderful atmosphere of joy, love and respect for everyone. My grandfather (My mother’s father), and his wife lived in the basement apartment. A friend of my mother, Anna, her husband and their three sons lived in the first floor apartment. The youngest son, Jurek, was the same age as me. Jurek and I were inseparable. From morning until night, we thought of new games to play and my younger brother often joined us. We spent lots of time with my grandparents. We liked to listen to stories my grandfather would tell of survival in the Far East during the Japanese-Russian war and others.  He was conscripted into the Russian Army and forced to fight at the age of 17. Grandfather taught us to draw, play the accordion and the harmonica. We also played checkers and chess with him. It was a time a fun and laughter.

I loved evenings with Dad. Every night at bedtime, he read fairy tales of 1001 nights, Hans Christian Andersen and others, stimulating our imagination. He carefully told us the story. He patiently explained what we did not understand and illustrated the life lessons we should learn from each fairy tale. In this way we got to know his character and sensitivity, forming patterns on our future lives. My favorite activity was viewing the Bible in pictures and the large size Lucedale calligraphy beautifully texted, when I began read. It was a great book, whose pages we had to gently turn. Dad liked to tell us his life and bible stories. We learned about our parents’ childhood and adolescence, reliving the happy or sad moments of their lives.

My parents liked to sing loudly on Sundays after Mass. Dad’s favorite song came from the repertoire of Jan Kiepura, Ordonka (Hanka Ordonowna). Mother’s favorite was beautiful patriotic “Polish legion songs” as well others like “Hello May dawn” (Witaj majowa jutrzenko), author unknown (mel. XVIII century). When we grew up our parents told us their tragic events, incidents and occurrences of their lives and all the participants or witnesses of brutal World War II.The church holidays; the Holy Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, Corpus Christi were all events for which we waited anxiously. Each had a different enchanted charm. We always observed them at home. Six weeks before Christmas, and Easter holiday were the general order, and the Sunday or/and late afternoon weekdays church service for children/youth reconciliation (relolekcje). The “rekolekcje” was my especiallly favorite church service. Several priests taught us how to apply Bible teachings to every day life based on example stories. I learned how to define the root cause to recognize right from wrong, this was a step to develop independent thinking. Under general order Mama with some of our help started cleaning the furniture, then the drawers, the cupboards, the cabinet’s shelf, the mattresses of all beds were flipped, ventilated, and brush cleaned. Curtains were washed, starched and ironed. All windows washed. She cleaned, dusted or/and polished the beautiful wall paintings, cornices, furniture, piano, wooden floor parquet, stairwell walls, and stairs. Carpets were flipped, and aired out. Linen was washed, boiled, dried in the sun (or in the winter in the attic), starched, mangled and ironed. The air in the house smelled fresh, like a High Mountain peak. It lasted until the next general house cleaning. We had to help her. Depending on financial situation she hired a cleaning person. These works Mama performed very carefully, perfectly. She lectured me always remember that anything what you do, do perfectly.

Three weeks before Christmas she began to purchase food, flour, sugar, poppy seeds, almonds and raisins. Ham and sausage Mama procured from local farmers. Ham, Dad cured for three weeks. Then it was smoked in a smokehouse. Mom was baking all of Christmas week, preparing yeast dough for a poppy seed, cheesecake, yeast cake. Usually it took two days . She would work and bake the full 24 hours until the holiday morning. The aroma permeated the whole house.

Mama had good organizational skills. She took care of all matters relating to official at father business and home. She always went to our school for the parents’ meeting with teachers for each of us. Mom organized all the construction work on the construction of the house, its equipment and furniture. We always knew how much she loved us. We told her our secrets, failures, and problem. She always gave us good advice.

Despite all the adversities of their life, they taught us how to enjoy every moment of life, and were thankful for the gift of life, The Most High God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit in every day of our being. They were always joyful.  Many friends, neighbors and family members visited our home. Every one was welcome.

Engagement to the engineer, perfection, precision, deduction, accuracy, I learned from my mother, but diligence I inherited from my father. I graduated with a master’s degree in the field of industrial mechanical engineering. By fate and destiny I have lived for many years in the United States, working in my favorite profession in the global pharmaceutical companies in the State of Illinois.

My sister’s affection for the music was inherited from parents who played the piano and sang many songs beautifully. She radiated joy and optimism like Mama, giving it to others. In adult life, she was an outstanding mathematics and physics student. She liked her profession very much. Unfortunately my beloved sister died too early.

My brother’s affection for the business, he inherited from our parents. I am grateful to him for taking over the business that was offered by our Dad to the next generation. My brother became a promoter of a craft school. Our parents would love this fact.

The purpose of this book is the transfer of facts from the life of my parents, to the next generation. It is to show how historical events shape life and how the character of a person influences the fate of the family, its members, and its subsequent generations. And also how the wisdom of Divine Providence takes care on us.