Click here for Babci's obituary:
http://www.legacy.com/masslive/DeathNotices.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=122833032
The Birthday Card
by Johanna (Pudlo) Jack
Babci always sent me a birthday card in the mail weeks early “to beat the Christmas rush”, as she would put it. This year, after Thanksgiving passed, the child in me anxiously awaited my first piece of birthday mail. Although I knew Babci was not well and in the nursing home, I never gave up hope that somehow, some way, a card would come. For over thirty years the card ALWAYS came. To me it was the kick-off to the holiday season! As the days quickly flew by, including December 21st without a card, I tried to be a grown up about the whole thing. I mean come on; I was an adult, a mom now, why did the absence of this card grate on me so much? I had a wonderful celebration with my family. Why did I still feel as though something huge was missing? I told myself I was being silly.
As Christmas approached my family on my dad’s side gathered at Babci’s house to celebrate Christmas Eve together (a well loved Polish tradition). Babci was not well-enough to be there with us and was sorely missed. We shared a traditional Polish meal, including our own homemade pierogi. Gifts were given to the kids and the night was winding down. It was then that my Aunt Cindy handed me an envelope with my name written on the front, barely legible with parts crossed out and rewritten. My heart jumped and my eyes teared up, for it was what I was waiting for…my “Babci” card! For a brief moment all was right in the world. I quickly opened it up to find that Babci had painstakingly tried to fill out the date and obviously gave it all she had to write me a simple message of love with her signature at the bottom. In my heart I thanked God for this special gift.
I knew I had to see Babci that night. After a call to the nursing home we learned that Babci was awake, confused, and looking for family. With Caleb sleeping in the car, my dear Steve drove me over to the nursing home close to 10 o’clock at night. It was a challenge to get in the building, but God worked things out and I made it to Babci’s room. I was not sure if she would know who I was, but when she opened her eyes she whispered to me, “How was your birthday?” She had made my birthday wonderful. There was not much else spoken and she soon faded back to sleep. I wished her a merry Christmas and told her I loved her. That was the last time I saw her. Caleb and I were both sick after Christmas and then were away on a trip. Babci died peacefully in her sleep the night before we returned.
I will always treasure my last birthday card from Babci as well as the 31 she gave me before that. For it is Babci’s birthday cards (& cards for every other holiday) that speak volumes of the wonderful person she was and I want to be. You see, the absence of the cards is the absence of something greater, the absence of a rare gem, a character hard to find these days. Babci was faithful to her family and to her God. She was generous beyond what she could afford, always selfless, hard-working, always serving others before herself. She spoke her mind and was a fighter. She fought to fill out my last card like she fought cancer and every other physical setback she encountered over these last few years. I am so grateful to God for giving me such a wonderful Babci that lived her faith out every day as an example to us all. May anyone who ever received a card from Babci (and I know many did!) strive to live such a humble, generous, Christ-like life as she did. I miss her greatly and look forward to our reunion in heaven. I am sure she will have the pierogi ready!!
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