LONDON - When Sarah Zelenka was just a baby being taken for a walk by her mother with her sister Claire, an elderly neighbor with a love for children came out of her home to see the children.
"She just had to see the babies," said Rosemary Zelenka. "She was just that way."
It was the beginning of a lifelong friendship that became something much bigger. For 24 years, Genevieve Szewczyk was like a grandmother to the four Zelenka children, Emily, Sarah, Claire and Dan.
For their entire lives, Szewczyk followed everything the Zelenka children did.
"To my kids she was like their grand mom," Rosemary Zelenka said. "She just fell in love with the kids and when she found out how close we lived she would always stop by. She was really a wonderful lady.
"Anything they did, she should would compliment them. If Sarah did a cartwheel she would say 'Oh how beautiful, how smart you have to be able to do that.' Whenever we went over their house she would always give them a tiny little glass of ginger ale and ice cream. Every time we walked by, we stopped and she always wanted them to come in."
As time passed and the Zelenka children grew older, so did Szewczyk, and as she aged Rosemary Zelenka and the entire family watched over their adopted grandmother. When she needed care, the Zelenka family was there.
Last summer, Sarah Zelenka rowed in her first world championship, but her family didn't have the money to travel to Slovenia to watch. With two children in college, Joseph and Rosemary couldn't afford the fare and hotel costs.
Szewczyk made sure that didn't happen this year, even if she was no longer with them. When she passed last summer at 95, Rosemary Zelenka was stunned to learn that Szewczyk had left them all her money.
The Zelenka's kept just enough of it for the entire family to travel to London to see Sarah row and they gave the rest to other families in their community in Itasca, Ill. who were struggling in this difficult economy.
And when Sarah rows in the final tomorrow of the women's pair with her partner Sara Hendershot, her family will be there as "Team Sarah," to watch and Szewczyk will be in their hearts.
"I think about her every time I see my family," Zelenka said. "It is such a huge deal for them to be able to make a big trip like this and it wouldn't be possible without our friend Genie. I know she will be with us tomorrow during our final and I am so grateful my family is able to come and experience the Olympics with me."
for Zelenka