Zuzanna Betker

1851 Borowiec - 1921 Winona

When I met Franciszek Szlagowski
I was almost twenty-five.
Out on my own as a domestic for
Almost a decade of scrimping and saving
What little I could for my marriage,
If, that is, anyone would marry this old maid
I was starting to wonder.
Frank was handsome and attentive
And he was clearly crazy about me,
And I about him.
So we did as young men and women do.
It happened as it always happens
I just assumed that Frank would make me his wife.
Instead, I was forced to take him to court
On the witness stand, I told the entire story
It was all over the papers, for all Winona to know.
He paid me two hundred dollars
And walked out a free man.
I walked out on the arm of a far better man,
Juliusz Jan Betker, recently arrived from Ugoszcz
Who took me and baby Paulina into his home,
A loving husband and father, a generous provider
A pillar of Saint Stanislaus Kostka Church.
Frank died young, as did his wife.
My own life was long and full.
Or was it?

767 East Front Street