Meet the Kazmierczaks

 

   
Thomas and Irene Kazmierczak have been married for twenty-three years and have one child, Denver, who is six years old. They call Eastlake, OH their home, and Sts. William and Robert their parish. Irene is a former banker and stay-at-home mom. Thomas is the Care Project Manager at the Cleveland Playhouse. Here’s their story.

Please share the short story of how you met and began dating.
My sister worked at the town summer youth program. My husband was her boss. She broke her ankle working for him.  My parents couldn’t be reached and they needed an adult to be at the hospital to approve tests. So I went there from work and my husband (her boss) was there. So we met over my sister who was in pain in the ER.

What are some favorite family activities?
Library, exploring new areas, day trips, visiting family in Buffalo, and volunteering.

Share a time you all really laughed as a family.
When I shared with my husband a DIY project list from Facebook of these impossible things that only big $ houses could afford.

Share a “cute kid” story (or two).
My daughter, Denver, loves to tell us about how much she loves us. She says “very very very very very” about 1,000 times in a row.  We also like to make voices for stuffed animals and give them personalities. Denver has an elf named Denver Elf, who is from the south and was recruited by Santa. She’s very dramatic.

Describe a dream family vacation.
We want to go to Huntsville to visit EWTN and stop by Dynamic Catholic on the way there.

What do you love most about being married?
Stability. Always having a partner.

What is your greatest challenge as a married couple and how are you working at it?
We had several challenges in our marriage, so severe that we participated in the Retrouvaille program. It saved our relationship.

What do you love most about your family?
We are very different, yet we have code beliefs that root us.

What is your greatest challenge as parents and how are you working at it?
We were foster parents. We have two different styles of parenting so we are always working through approaches and issues that come up.

Share a time you saw Jesus fulfill a real need in your family?
Many times. In 2016, we had many challenges. My husband’s open heart surgery, helping our former foster son, my father’s cancer, financial distress, etc. We prayed for help and slowly each of the challenges was tackled one by one. It was all in God’s hands.

How does your family pray?
Meal time. We say the Divine Mercy Chaplet together daily. I pray the rosary daily. We try to visit shrines and special places to pray. We pray whenever we travel and see a disabled vehicle.

How do you measure success as a family, and what help do you need getting there?
How close we are to God. We always need resources to help us learn more about our faith and grow closer to Him.

What are you moved to proclaim to other families?
The importance of faith formation for children at any age.

How have Mass Impact and LIT Groups impacted your marriage and family life? Why do you think others should get involved?
We attended this while at St Peter’s in Huron. We attended only a few. It was nice to be able to meet different people. It helped us to see other families actively involved in the church. It was good to discuss the upcoming gospel for the week. Also, Ignite was very moving.

We would love to feature your family story! 

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