Dziadzia

It's time to end the blogging silence! Sorry I've been a bit slow in sharing lately, February was one heck of a month. So get ready for a flurry of posts in the next few days, i've got a lot to share.

In the midst of this crazy February, on the first day of our trip to Thailand, my incredible Dziadzia (polish for 'grandfather') Roman Ciesla passed away at 83 in Chicago. He was the hardest worker I could ever conceive of, dotting the chips on my Corolla with white paint, fixing stuck doors, and washing windows all on his vacations down to see us in Florida. Appropriately, he died shoveling snow in his beloved Chicago, during the 3rd biggest blizzard of the city's history....loving and serving his family and neighborhood.

He loved people, he loved Jesus, and he loved to put those two together. Everyone knew Dziadz. He never missed an opportunity to talk to you, to share that you were loved, and to encourage you for everything you did well. "I'm proud of you, sister!" was a common refrain, accompanied by a hearty slap on the back that shoved my spine to the opposite side of my body. He and my lovely Busia (polish for 'grandmother') recognized in all of us what was special. They fostered, cultivated, and challenged those things to make us the people that we are, better sons and daughters, husbands and wives, better people and better followers of Christ. I strongly desire to have a legacy even close to as strong.

For those of you who attended our wedding, you'll remember his chair broke just seconds before I walked down the aisle. Despite having just tumbled to the floor, he quickly quipped, "I knew I should have taken off my money belt!" Honestly, it was one of my favorite moments of the wedding...and I didn't even see it. I simply relive it through our video, smiling at him, at how my Busia laughed with abandon along with him, and at how held his Bible close and said, "Praise the Lord!" when he sat down in a new chair.

I love my Dziadzia. I heard that my sister Kari gave an incredible tribute to him at his funeral, one that I wish I had so that I could transcribe it here. He was an incredible man.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dailyherald/obituary.aspx?n=roman-h-ciesla&pid=148329208