Sun City resident, Ed Piotrowski, is a published author. His current project has been finishing and publishing a book based on writings by his mother. The book gives a glimpse into the lives of two members of the “Greatest Generation,” Virginia and her husband, Eddie Piotrowski.
Piotrowski said, “When she was in her 80s, my mother documented the first 30 years of her life, from 1922 to 1952.”
The book contains photographs, letters, and even a Valentine’s Day card sent in 1943 from overseas. The struggles and anxiety of living through the Great Depression and her thoughts and feelings when her fiancé was drafted into the Army are recorded in her writings.
Piotrowski said, “My dad served two-and-a-half years overseas until the conclusion of the war. The uncertainties of war and the years of separation strengthened their love for one another.”
Virginia recorded the surprise of Eddie receiving an unexpected furlough, his first, in 1944, returning home and quickly putting together wedding plans. She wrote, “Since my sister had gotten married before us, and we were about the same size, I wore her long sleeve, pearl-trimmed satin dress, and her headpiece made of pearl flowers.” And describing her Eddie on their wedding day, she wrote, “There is nothing handsomer than a man in uniform.”
Virginia’s first 30 years record life’s struggles, hopes, and dreams. Post-war, she notes the joy of owning their first home and acknowledges the mistakes made in buying it, but the pride in the work put into it is evident. Against the backdrop of the austere living accommodations of her childhood, she speaks of the satisfaction of owning a place “with heat, meaning a furnace, hot water, and a bathtub.”
Her son, Ed, took up the challenge of chronicling the significant events of her life in the decades following 1952. Virginia and her family moved from their first home in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood to a single-family residence in Niles, where they lived until 2000. That home may sound familiar to many residents of the Chicago area, which Piotrowski describes as a “yellow brick ranch…with blonde wood kitchen cabinets…and pink tiles decorating the bathroom walls…”
In 2000, Jo Ann, Piotrowski’s wife, said, “My in-laws were eighty years old. They were done with home ownership. We ended up building a home together in Hampshire, with separate living quarters for them. It was comforting for us to have them so close. They were wonderful people.”
Piotrowski said, “Unfortunately, two years later, my dad died. Mom had never driven in her life. It was great having her next to us so we could check on her daily, provide meals, and help her with odds and ends, errands and shopping.”
Piotrowski encouraged his mom to write.
“I thought it would help her deal with her grief,” he said.
In the pages written by Virginia, initially, the focus is on the void left in her life by her husband’s death. But later, she documents the joy that her grandchildren and great-grandchildren brought her and a special fondness for her great-grandson, Matthew. They had a special bond and a song that they shared: “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”
Virginia fought cancer twice, losing to the second occurrence at age 96.
“After my mom passed away, we needed to sell the house. My sister and her husband pitched in to clean her side and took some of her belongings back to their house. When my sister passed away several years later, my niece found a notebook,” Piotrowski said.
The notebook, handwritten, contained her story. Piotrowski filled in the missing pieces to complete it.
As the book, Recollections from the Heart: A Greatest Generation Portrait, began to take shape, Piotrowski said, “Everyone was excited. My cousins and nieces would ask, ‘How’s the story going? The grandchildren and great-grandchildren can’t wait to see the final product.’” He continued, “The clarity and vividness of her early life recollections are amazing. It’s truly a family treasure.”
The book is available for purchase on Amazon. Piotrowski invites readers to email him with comments on his book at ifish44.ep@gmail.com
