Today is the 15th anniversary of my Dad’s passing. Please rest in peace Zenon Gnazdowsky.

Thankfully, I have so many fond memories of my Dad. He loved family, extended family, and friends deeply and dearly. In fact, if you knew Zenon, you were embraced into his inner circle and you were family.

Some of my fondest memories were how he would make everything a party! Growing up we would have: dancing parties, baseball parties, hotdog parties, everything was a party… He encouraged us to have fun and friends. After leaving Ethelbert Manitoba we treasured our homecomings going back to be with our tribe.

Dad valued excessive fun! He took us to the Calgary Stampede every single day that it was on, (all 10 of them). Anytime somebody would visit us in Calgary, we would take road trips to Banff, the zoo, Heritage Park, and of course, take in the movies, complete with a tour of his projectionist’s booth.

He was so proud to be a motion picture projectionist and he kept his workspace in tiptop shape! In fact, he also kept his kitchen cupboards in tiptop shape, cans all lined up looking like a grocery store.

Zenon took a lot of teasing for being the youngest boy in the Gnazdowsky family and I keep hearing the stories of how spoiled he was and how he did no work! In his younger years, he took pride in being a rascal and getting into good fun, ahem, trouble!

When we were teenagers, dad bought us wild ponies, then horses.  I’m sure to keep us out of trouble, but those ponies gave him double trouble! Dad took quite a beating from those ponies!

His virtues were extreme kindness, generosity, fun, inclusion, pride, and good moral standards. He always wanted to support everyone and would often say, “I don’t want to hurt anyone.” As a result, I am grateful for the sense of compassion, caring, understanding, loyalty, and fun that I bring to the table, thanks to my Dear Dad.

Dad encouraged us to be proud and one of his great lessons was always to “hold your head up and be proud, you are a Gnazdowsky,” Instilling pride and a wonderful sense of family. Plus another one of his life lessons was, “do your own thing,” … and we certainly did!

So as we reflect upon your Life and Legacy Dad, please know your children, your grandchildren, and your great-grandchildren are amazing people. So is everyone you’ve touched, loved, and inspired. Your fun, your love, and life lessons – live on.

What about you? Who influenced you? What was their legacy and what have you inherited as a result?

Forever grateful & proud to be a Gnazdowsky!