My father LOVED Nature. He would marveled at insects, at beauty of the woods, richness of soil. Dad tried to help and heal the hurt he encountered – home was often a makeshift hospital to a bird with broken wing or squirrel in trouble. His love extended to children - gathering and feeding kids from the neighborhood. Once he even brought home a young Italian fellow, hopelessly lost on streets of Krakow. “I don’t speak English but my daughters does” he explained to him. 

Dad never talked about being a soldier in World War II. The atrocities of that time seeped into our lives a bit; it took decades to put pieces together. Living in the east, his father was shot by supposed liberators so they could kick the mother out from home, including eight kids. Both older boys joined Polish army. The home with 100 hectares of land was never recovered. Dad supported us by working at the steel mill and died too early, just like all the men in our block, with polluted blood and lungs.

Dad shared his love of Nature with us tirelessly, though in teenage years - we had other interests of our own. It took some maturing to understand the true message but it came through. I think that Dad by sharing the love of animals and trees tried to right at least some of the wrongs, bring some peace.

Memorial Day and Father’s Day soon, bring a lot of thoughts. I hope that we can evolve as a human race to the point where the war is an obsolete solution. When harm is truly not acceptable to us.

 For all individuals who willingly serve to protect us I am deeply grateful and thankful. For all who survived danger I am hopeful. I can’t phantom the hardship of coming home from war trauma and attempting to build again. In honor of our armed forces we offer a permanent 10% discount for military personnel, the vets and their families. No documentation required, an honor system, use code “Iserved”. Thank you.