Brittani Commemorative Manuscript 11-17-03
The person I am commemorating today is someone I knew for only 5 years. She is my great grandmother named Harriett Palicki. I was very young when she died but the memories I have, will stay with me forever. I remember her as such a gentle person, yet so strong. From the time I was 2 I was staying at her house during the day while my Mom was at work. She watched me for 2 years and she was a great help to my Mom but also a great role model for me. I would not trade that precious time with her for anything. I would like to commemorate her for her strength in times of weakness and her unconditional love for everyone around her.
She worked in a pie factory as her first job when she was 16, and also worked at Wilson Shirt Factory sewing pajamas. After she had children she was a housewife until my great grandfather passed away in 1956, from hardening of the arteries. She was 37 when she was widowed, she then had 3 children to raise, which I’m sure was difficult. In order to raise money, she would sell greeting cards, sew, make food and she even taught herself how to paint. She did whatever it took to still have income and stay home with her youngest child. She was also a very unselfish person, one time she literally gave the coat off her back to a young woman and her child that were in a train station in winter. She didn’t do it to have everyone recognize her good dead she did it out of the kindness of her heart. It was her personality she was a very caring person.
She became the first woman to work in the Notre Dame post office after over 100 years of only male workers. When the children were in school, she was a school crossing guard for 2 years. It was a job she really enjoyed. The children would run up to her and give her hugs and bring her flowers and she was very eager to share the love. In the winter 1963 she was hit by a car while on duty and she flew in the air 45 feet and landed on a car and then fell onto the cement. She had very serious injuries; fractured skull, she had injuries to her back and she was in bad condition. The doctors didn’t even know if she would live. God sustained her life and she was able to recover.
There were several times she was very close to death and she always thought that she had done something wrong to deserve bad things. She thought that God did those things because he only wanted her to be happy for a little while and then she needed something to happen to set her back a ways. After spending 55 years as a Catholic she committed her life to Christ in April of 1974. It was then that she realized God was saving her through each and every situation. She was then very grateful for the life she had.
In 1987 she started watching me. She did so many things with me; we would sing, she would read the Bible to me and just listen to me talk. This to some could have been tiring because I don’t think I stopped much, only to take breaths when I absolutely needed to. Since my Mom was at work everyday my Grandma would tape record me so that my Mom could listen to some things we said or did during the day. I brought one of the tapes so I will share with you a little of what it was like during the “Days with Grandma Harriett.” ATTENTION: none of this can be used as black-mail material! J Side note I had just turned 3 the day before. (Play tape) That probably sounds really weird to some but it is very special to us now, serving as something we can look back on. It is humorous listening to some of the things I came up with and the ways I said things when I was that young.
The next obstacle my Grandma Harriett had to go through started out to be something that seemed to be easy to diagnose and then became a bigger issue. In 1989 she started having gallbladder problems. The doctor said she would probably need her gallbladder removed but they needed to take an x-ray anyways. When reviewing it, they noticed a black mass on her kidney. It was cancerous but they figured if they removed it, it should be contained. Although 9 months later she started to have tingling in her fingers, after 4 opinions, the last doctor bluntly told her she has cancer in her spine. The cancer was spreading so quickly that by that August the doctor said that she had only a month to live. My Grandma said she was not ready to die and she wanted to live till spring. She prayed that God would sustain her till spring of 1991. Throughout the next 7 months the cancer went to her brain and she also had a large tumor in her throat. Something they were giving her was also taking all the potassium from her body which then caused her to be paralyzed. Although it was painful and the morphine poisoned her body she passed away on March 20, 1991, which was the first day of spring. Although I didn’t understand back then what was going on, I think it was awesome how God answered her prayer.
Even though she is gone there are so many good things that happened out of the situation. She was able to lead 2 people to Christ when she was in her bed so sick, and there were people who wanted to see her but they were pretty nervous knowing how sick she was and those same people would leave the room laughing and you could see that Jesus was shining through her and bringing others joy. I hope each one of you have someone who has had as much of an impact on your life as my Grandma Harriett did on mine.
It is the time that you spend with someone that is most valuable. I challenge you to sit down and talk with a grandparent or great grandparent and let them tell you stories from when they were young. It may seem monotonous now but you will be glad you did it in the long run, besides you are able to learn more about your own heritage that you may be able to pass on to your children one day.
Grandma... I love you and miss you!
If you have a memory/memories of her- please share!
