Genowewa (Jenny) Hozer-Gniazdowski was all about standing up for the little guy. From her arrival in New York in 1914, the Polish native had no time for the commonplace prejudices prevalent in the early or later twentieth century. Instead, like her adopted city, she embraced diversity and welcomed all.
Although she was a wife and the mother of six, little else in Jenny's life was conventional. She dared to question the tenets that held up traditional societal structures, but she did so with kindness and heart.
Jenny's experiences as an immigrant in America inspired her. She believed and participated in a world where a variety of cultures and religions mixed, and everyone took care of one another. Almost nothing scandalized her, and her fierce determination to stand up for minorities and the persecuted was unshakeable.
During the first eighteen years of his life, Alfred T. Stefanik spent a lot of time with the incredible woman who was his grandmother. In that time, she taught him the meaning of compassion. I See Your Belly Button is Alfred's tribute to his grandmother Jenny, but it is also a testament to the human capacity for love.
About the Author: Alfred T. Stefanik was born in Long Island just months before the start of World War II. In 1965, he was ordained as a priest of the Roman Catholic Church and accepted a teaching fellowship at St. Michael's College in Vermont. During that time, he met his soon-to-be wife, Claire, and in 1969, after much prayer and counseling, he made the decision to leave the priesthood and marry her.
Alfred was a social worker for over a decade while also teaching courses at Johnson State College and the Community College of Vermont. He later became the University of Vermont's Episcopal/Lutheran campus minister, which rekindled his ministry work. He went on to become the pastor of several parishes located across the United States.
In 2014, he and Claire moved to Florida. They raised eight children and enjoy family gatherings, which often manage to include four generations.
