Laughter on the Wind

Stanley Wilczenski
December 4th, 1920- May 13th, 2011

Maybe some misty day you'll waken to find me gone
And far away you'll hear me singing softly to the dawn
You'll wonder if I'm happy there, a little more than I've been
And the answer will come back to you like laughter on the wind

I'm really not sure what to say, except that my grandpa died last night. He was ninety years old, which is pretty old, and he got pneumonia. He hasn't been well-- really well-- in years. He had a stroke when I was six or so, and even though he gained back all of his mental capacity, it took most of his eyesight, his balance, and over the years his hearing has gotten progressively worse and worse. Still, he was always so optimistic whenever I saw him. He was one of the most active people in his assisted living home, despite his inability to walk really. He went to the exercise room and lifted weights and used the recumbent bike. He did exercises on the computer to keep his mental facilities sharp, and the doctor there said he had the record scores on all the games. He was funny, too.

I called him Dzadek, which is Polish for grandpa. He was born in the United States, but his parents were off-the-boat Polish, and his older sister was born in Poland. Dzadek fought in World War II and was stationed in Casablanca, Morocco. After I saw the movie Casablanca he got out some of the coins he had saved from his time there during the war, and when I started taking French classes he spoke with me what little French he remembered. When I was little, before his stroke, he used to play all sorts of games with me-- hide and seek, tag, anything at all. He had so much energy. After his stroke, he and my grandma would play boardgames with me like nobody's business. I played more Old Maid, Aggravation, Go Fish, and so many others. He and my grandma (but especially my Dzadek) would let me have ice cream whenever I asked. Dzadek also made the best pies. It may seem odd that Dzadek made the pies and not Grandma, but he did (Grandma, however, makes the best roast in the whole world). I loved going to Grandma and Dzadek's house. When we moved to Virginia, they moved out to New Mexico to be closer to my mom's sister and her kids, so for years now I haven't gotten to see as much of Grandma and Dzadek, due to distance constraints. But whenever I would go Dzadek's face would always light up when he saw me and whenever I would hug him and tell him I loved him he would always say, "Oh Abigail, I love you so much. You have no idea. Come visit again soon!" I knew he really, really loved me and I really, really loved him.

I'm hoping that where ever he is now he can hear again. His inability to hear well for the past fifteen or twenty years was always so frustrating to him. And I'm hoping he can see well again, too, and move about more easily, perhaps floating on the air, if that's a thing there, and that he knows how much we all love him and how much we miss him.