Day 113- Edwin Brzezinski

Today was multicultural day at school.  I must say I was a bit skeptical about this at first.  Although West is more diverse than the area I grew up in, it's certainly not a mecca for all cultures.  However, I was impressed with the assembly that the school and the kids put on.  I'll spare you all of my cheesy and terribly cliche thoughts on this.  Let's just say it was delightful.

There was also a whole setup in the little gym all day.  We were encouraged to take our classes down and to let them explore all of the booths set up to represent different countries.  I took my small class of juniors and seniors down after lunch since they have a split class and seemed to need a little break from reading this afternoon.  I wandered around from booth to booth, occasionally pausing when something caught my eye (hello, beautiful quincenera dresses!).  When I got halfway around the gym, I noticed a cute little man waving me over to his booth.  I checked behind me to make sure he wasn't motioning to someone else, but, sure enough, he was waving at me.

I laughed to myself when I got to his Poland booth.  That's funny, I thought to myself, I don't think anyone has recognized that I'm part Polish just by sight before.  The man introduced me to his wife and quickly started in with showing me all of the little treasures he had on the table.  He had me hold some traditional little wooden Easter eggs and showed me a few other things.  The whole time he was talking to me, I couldn't help but think how much he reminded me of my grandpa.  He really sealed the deal when he said, "Here's something you'll recognize," and pulled out a a Polish Barbie.  He followed that up with teaching me how to say "How are you doing?" and "Give me a kiss," in Polish.  At this point, I was totally cracking up, and I was certain that my Grandpa had chosen him to speak to me.

When my new friend Edwin and his wife started to talk to me about Polish Christmas traditions, I had to fight back tears.  At the end of our chat, the Brzezinskis gave me a brochure with information on trips to Poland and encouraged me to take a trip there one of these days.  Ok, Grandpa, I promise I'll make it there.

Thank you, Edwin Brzezinski, you made my day. 

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