Dear William, Daniel, Catherine, Michael (and Baby Girl Y) (and your parents), (and any future descendants and their parents),

My Mom, Irene Kostro (nee Dzikowska) was born in Leszno, Poland, with her fraternal twin brother, Wieslaw Dzikowski, on Monday, December 1, 1919.

That same day, December 1, 1919: (1) American-born Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, become the first woman to take her seat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom; and (2) XWA (now CINW), in Montreal, become the first public radio station in North America to go on the air.

Yesterday evening, my brother Tom, and my sisters Olenka and Hanka gathered with our Mom to celebrate her 96th birthday (my sister Elzunia did not join us).

During that gathering, I distributed a printed copy of my November 11, 2015 letter to you — I thought that everyone would appreciate receiving a copy of the stories we heard over time, and that Tom’s kids (Zak, Katrina and Cody) would also like receiving a copy of their grandmother’s story.

I think that everyone was appreciative for receiving this printed copy of my Mom’s story. My Mom was particularly please with the photos included in the story. She focused on the photo of her twin brother, Wiesiek, and commented that it was taken just shortly before he was shot — that incident is described in my Book, starting on the bottom half of page 11.

Then, my Mom started telling us the story of one of her “adventures” while she was a member of the AK.

After she joined the AK, she was sent on a training mission. She, and approximately five other individuals were given directions to take a train, and each of them was to get off at different specified train stations. Once off the train, she had to follow a compass heading, cross country, to a location where they would all meet with their trainers.

Once she arrived at the designated destination, she and her fellow participants were trained in tactics on how to approach as structure, involving lying flat on the ground, then elevating and quickly advancing, and that cycle repeated until they reached their objective. In the course of those exercises, she developed a tremendous migraine headache.

When the training ended in the middle of the night, she had to return to the train station using her compass. As she was approaching a road, she heard German voices, so she laid down — fortunately, she was in the midst of a small field of ferns. She was very scared, as the German soldiers were shining very bright lanterns across the terrain; but, she was not spotted. By the morning she managed to get back to the train station — her clothes were wet, dirty and muddy, but no one made any notice of her. She returned home without any further incident.

By the end of her story, my Mom was getting tired, and it was getting late; so I left. Once I got home, I spoke with your Babcia Krysia, and told her about the evening. Babcia Krysia was (and still is) in Rochester, where she is attending some work-related business meetings.

Love,

Dziadziuś Paweł.

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