A Life Rooted in Resilience and Heritage
(About a 5-1/2 minute read)
My grandma recently passed at 104 years old. Even leading to the final months of life, her mind remained sharp and her memory keen. I cherished every moment we shared and the vivid vignettes about her life. Though I miss her, I’m comforted knowing she’s in Heaven—free from tears, pain, and grief, and surrounded by joy and fellowship with our Heavenly Father.
My grandma Elsa Freeman was born on January 10, 1921. Her parents had emigrated from the Bohemian region of the former Austrian Empire and met in Indiana, where my great-grandfather, Frank Polasek, worked for Mr. Malik, a fellow Bohemian immigrant. Frank eventually eloped with his eldest daughter, Agnes Malik, and the young couple moved to Michigan to start a new life together. They worked on various farms and eventually raised four children.
Frank and Agnes Polasek’s wedding picture.
My grandma was the youngest, and the day she was born, Frank traded his buggy for the family’s first car: a Model T Ford. When she was three years old, her parents purchased an eighty-acre farm in New Haven township in Shiawassee County, about thirty minutes from Lansing, the state’s capitol. Despite the hardships of the Great Depression, the family endured through sheer determination and hard work.
Frank and Agnes Polasek with their son Tony and my grandma Elsa.
Elsa grew up bilingual—speaking Czech at home and English at school. Her world was steeped in the traditions of her heritage: she listened to Czech music at the local Czech Hall, read the Czech newspaper, and spent time with families in the Czech and Slovak community. Her father helped build the local Czech Hall, which became a central part of her childhood.
When she was a little girl, she’d often fall asleep curled up on the coat rack during late-night gatherings at the Hall. As a teenager, she spent countless hours dancing the polka across the ballroom.
As a young woman, she got engaged to a fellow Bohemian, the usual practice back then. After all, her three older siblings married Czechs or Slovaks.
Love and War: How Grandma Met Grandpa
One night, while attending her sister’s wedding reception at the Czech Hall, a seed for her future was sowed. Wayne Freeman—an outsider—crashed the party. He’d heard Czech weddings were a good time and tagged along with a friend. The moment he saw Elsa, he was smitten (despite the minor detail that he was already engaged himself). He asked her to dance and even offered to drive her home. Grandma pointed out that not only was she engaged—her fiancé was at the reception!
Elsa at her sister’s wedding, where she met Wayne.
Months passed. Eventually, Elsa ended her engagement and took a job at Fedders, a radiator plant in Owosso, the largest city in Shiawassee county. Coincidentally—or perhaps fatefully—Wayne landed a job there that fall of 1940. When he realized the woman from the wedding reception worked on the assembly line, he sent her a note down the conveyor belt asking her out.
She told him no. Then no again. And again. For months.
Finally, in January 1941, she took pity on him and agreed to one date. After their third date, Wayne kissed her—and she later said her toes tingled. On Thanksgiving that year, they were married.
My grandparents wedding picture. Grandma didn’t want to wear a traditional wedding gown.
But their newlywed bliss was short-lived. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. entered World War II, and Wayne was drafted. He went to basic training in March 1942. Despite the uncertainty and separation, they started their family, and my dad was born during the war. (My grandpa didn’t meet his first-born child until my dad was 2-1/2 years old). After the war was over, they settled in Corunna, Michigan (also in Shiawassee county) and had two daughters. Now, they were a family of five.
Grandma holding my dad.
A Life of Love, Legacy, and Lively Cards
My grandparents lived modestly, but they enjoyed life. My grandfather was Welsh and German—his maternal grandparents emigrated from Germany, and his paternal great-grandparents from Wales.
Growing up, we’d visit my grandparents in Owosso, about three hours south of Gaylord, where I was raised. I usually spent a week or two with them every summer. Grandma would take us grocery shopping and we’d pick out our favorite cereals and snacks for the week. We’d play Uno, go bowling, and sometimes she’d drop us off at the movie theater.
Their tri-level home was full of personality. On the lowest level, Grandpa would shoot pool and listen to jazz. On the main floor, Grandma was often in the kitchen cooking a delicious meal and baking rohlicky, her famous Czech pastries. (I shared her recipe in the Christmas anthology, Good Tidings.) Or they’d be watching the Detroit Tigers. The third floor held the bedrooms, where I’d share a room with my sister.
Years later, Grandma and Grandpa moved to Gaylord when their first great-grandchildren (my twin nephews) were born, so they could near family. My grandparents had a house built on the edge of my parents’ property. Grandma brought her 100-year-old father, Frank Polasek, to Gaylord as well. He had outlived his wife and three of his four children, and she wanted to be close enough to visit him in the nursing home. He lived to be 105, making us a five-generation family.
My grandpa Freeman passed in his eighties, and Grandma lived on as a widow for over twenty years. In her nineties, she moved into a senior living complex just a few miles from my parents. When we’d visit, we’d often play cards or watch game shows and sports. She especially loved watching the Detroit Tigers but also kept up with golf, basketball, and football. Robert and I played Five Crowns with her this past Christmas where we each won a game.
One unexpected blessing came when I married Robert. Both sets of his grandparents had passed when he was young, so he inherited a grandmother through me. She adored him, especially knowing I had someone to spend my life with. And he got to enjoy having a grandma for five years.
Here’s to a life well lived—full of love, laughter, family, and fierce card games.
This past Christmas playing Five Crowns with Grandma.