Polish Duo Find Cda Like Home

The end of Communist rule nearly paralyzed Poland, but it didn’t hobble Janusz and Bozena Mordaszewski.

Despite Poland’s crumbling economy, people needed the Mordaszewskis’ touch, their treatments. Their physical therapy and massage business was healthy enough to almost keep them in Krakow.

But life pulled them to Chicago, then to Coeur d’Alene.

“If something is showing you something over and over again, I think you should follow,” Bozena says. Her dark eyes shine with intelligence and her English flows clearly, although she’s had only one formal lesson.

The Krakow Mordaszewskis were successful by Polish standards, but life still was a struggle. Interest rates on loans neared 50 percent. They were in their 20s and wanted to buy a home.

On a whim, Janusz applied for an American visa in 1992. Applicants were chosen by lottery once a year and spouses and children were included. He threw Bozena’s name into the hat, too, to double their chances. Then he forgot about it.

“I wasn’t serious. Bozena was pregnant,” he says, shrugging his shoulders with a laugh.

Their son was 3 months old when Janusz heard he’d been chosen. A month later, they were notified that Bozena’s name also had been picked. Their son was so young and the immigration process moved so fast that they decided to stay put.

Embassy officials warned them they wouldn’t get another chance. The Mordaszewskis didn’t care. A few months later, they were invited back to the American embassy, offered visas and help with moving.

“We took that second notice as a sign,” Bozena says. They arrived in Chicago a few weeks later where friends pulled them into the Polish community. They planned to stay six months - just long enough to qualify for green cards.

They spoke no English. Their physical therapy licenses weren’t valid in the United States. Friends housed, fed and translated for them. After a month, Janusz and Bozena realized they had to leave the neighborhood.

“We weren’t learning anything,” Bozena says. “In a short time on our own, we learned very quickly.”

Luck was on their side. They found jobs at a graphics company where the manager had friends in the spa business. His connections helped Janusz and Bozena land jobs as massage therapists at the Fontana Spa in Wisconsin.

Back in Krakow, things weren’t going well. The Mordaszewskis had left a friend in charge of their therapy business. It was sinking fast.

“We asked ourselves, ‘Can we go back and have nothing, start from zero?”’ Bozena says. “We had something here, so we stayed.”

They practiced their English for survival and for the proficiency they need to take the American licensing test for physical therapists.

“We want to treat,” Janusz says. The Wisconsin spa wasn’t interested in massage as a form of health treatment.

The Mordaszewskis had begun looking for new jobs last spring when Janusz found Coeur d’Alene businessman Jerry Jaeger on his massage table. Jerry was picking up ideas for the spa The Coeur d’Alene Resort was about to open.

He offered the Mordaszewskis jobs and invited them to check out Idaho, which “for me was as distant as Africa,” Janusz says, laughing.

Coeur d’Alene’s people were friendly, the climate like Poland’s and the small shops downtown similar to European downtowns. The Mordaszewskis were sold. They started work at the spa last April and immediately promoted the healing aspect of massage.

“Poland is still in our hearts,” Bozena says as if speaking about a past lover. “But we feel so comfortable here. We’re thinking of staying.”

S’no way

What’s your prediction for winter and why? Forecast for Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814; fax to 765-7149; call 765-7128; or e-mail to cynthiat@spokesman.com.

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