Yes, one of those days you don't look forward to but they happen anyway. It was the funeral of cousin Cecylia's husband, Leszek. Our first meeting with him was in 2003, our first visit to Poland. He spoke just enough English for us to be able to communicate and it didn't take long to realize he was also a person like us who liked to travel to new places. So it was sad last week when we heard he had died and we made our day planned around the funeral. He was a very good man.
It started with a mass at 10:00 in the church he belonged to but he was not there during the service. He was already at the large cemetery, Mi艂ostowo, waiting. It was a short drive there and then there was a viewing of him followed by a shorter service in the chapel on the grounds. Family members came from Koni艅 and Golina for the service and when it was all over a Stypa(meal) was in Novotel hotel. Joan and I didn't attend. Relatives were there we haven't seen for many years, some not even since we moved here.
Tak, to jest jeden z tych dni, kt贸rych nie oczekujemy, ale tak czy inaczej si臋 dzieje . To by艂 pogrzeb m臋偶a kuzynki Cecylii, Leszka. Nasze pierwsze z nim spotkanie by艂o w 2003 roku, podczas naszej pierwszej wizyty w Polsce. M贸wi艂 na tyle po angielsku, aby m贸c komunikowa膰 si臋 i nie trwa艂o d艂ugo, aby u艣wiadomi膰 sobie, 偶e by艂 osob膮 podobn膮 do nas, kt贸ra lubi艂a podr贸偶owa膰 w nowe miejsca. Kiedy w zesz艂ym tygodniu us艂yszeli艣my, 偶e umar艂, to ogarn膮艂 nas smutek, a potem zaplanowali艣my nasz dzie艅 na jego pogrzeb. By艂 bardzo dobrym cz艂owiekiem.
Zacz臋艂o si臋 od mszy o godzinie 10:00 w ko艣ciele do kt贸rego nale偶a艂, ale trumny nie by艂o w czasie nabo偶e艅stwa. Trumna z cia艂em by艂a ju偶 na du偶ym cmentarzu Mi艂ostowo. Jazda na cmentarz zaj臋艂a kilka minut. Tam mo偶na by艂o po偶egna膰 si臋 z nim, a nast臋pnie by艂a kr贸tka modlitwa w kaplicy na terenie cmentarza. Cz艂onkowie rodziny przyjechali z Konina i Golina na pogrzeb, a kiedy si臋 zako艅czy艂 to w hotelu Novotel by艂a stypa. Joan i ja nie uczestniczyli艣my. Na pogrzebie byli krewni, kt贸rych nie widzieli艣my od wielu lat, niekt贸rych nawet od momentu, kiedy si臋 tutaj przenie艣li艣my.