Picture it, America, the year, 1933, President Herbert Hoover the 31st president of the United States serves his last year in office, construction of the golden gate bridge begins and will take the next four years to complete, the 1st major-league all-star game is held in Chicago, and the great depression was coming to an end as was prohibition. 

My grandfather Stanley Michael Ostrenga was born August 22nd, 1933, in the mist of all this bustle in Oconto Falls, WI. His parents came from Poland during the 1890’s to escape from extreme poverty. They were among the first large waves of Pole to leave their land for America. Due to famine and poverty, they had no land and little food, so they bravely left behind all they had known in search of prosperity. They were able to obtain land, start a farm and raise a family.

The second youngest of eleven children, Stanley grew to overcome obstacles and adversity such as extreme poverty, limited education and environmental hardships. Throughout the years I have watched him overcome another difficulty, that of growing old while watching most his friends and family pass away one by one. Throughout all the agony and hardships, I have watched him continue to persevere.

Stanley is a ruff man tenaciously unwilling to yield yet steadfast in allegiance to his family. He is firm of jaw, has dark olive skin, his hands and face show the weathered futures of his age and life, he’s tall and thin, at one time his hair was thick and dark, now turned grey.

My grandfather has given me some precious insights within our time together that I would like to share with you all. While I’ve grown up with this man being the main male figure in my life, I have learned two important things from him, one because I have observed, listened and appreciated and one because he sat me down to explain.

The first and most important is mind over matter, where so many people believe if the worst happened, they would never be able to get through it, that bad things or bad news are the worst possible outcomes Stanley has shown me that this simple is untrue. I have watched him repeatably suffer through the death of his only child, to his wife’s passing and countless others and having numerus surgeries for heart failure. He made it through the draft of the 1950’s, being crushed by a construction beam and being permanently injured and now lives a life of isolation but through all this he has shown me that life continues, and you must continue with it.

The second thing he has shown me is that you’re only as old as you tell yourself. At age 86 my grandfather still climbs trees to remove a branch or two or sometimes the whole tree, climbs the ruff to remove snow or unclog the chimney, keeps his own garden, keeps his home, garage and yard orderly, still cuts his own wood by hand for the winter, plows his own snow via a large old tractor with no power stirring and has just completed his 72nd year of hunting. And when the doctor asks him if he exercises, he chuckles a little and says no I work.

My grandfather has given me these concepts that I have used in my own life. I have faced great obstacles, the loss of my mother, the loss of my daughter, poverty and heart and lung issues and continue to face more each day. He has given me the strength to push myself toward the things I most want in the world and to not let anything stand in my way. The inspiration and gratitude I have been fortunate enough to see has allowed me to overcome, not give up and not let myself be my own worst enemy.