Make Mike and Marsha's Home Accessible

My uncle, retired public school teacher, Mike Polak needs help. He recently had surgery and has severely limited mobility. His wife Marsha is still recovering from a very rare complication that caused partial paralysis and also has very limited mobility. They spend almost all their time in the ground level living room of their home, but their only bathrooms in the house are way up on the top floor. Hiking up a flight and a half of stairs every time you need to use the bathroom has gone from a minor inconvenience to an extremely prohibitive and dangerous endeavor. If you’ve ever gone on a road trip with Mike you know he’s not shy about peeing in a bottle, but as his nephew, letting them shit in a bucket is where I need to draw a line.

Many of you may remember Mr.Polak from Two Springs Elementary where he taught 6th (sometime 5th) grade for decades. His booming voice echoed through the halls, terrifying 1st graders and keeping unruly preteens in line. His annual sex ed class for the 5th/6th grade boys was the stuff of legends. If you didn’t have him for a teacher, you were probably kinda scared of him—but if you were fortunate enough to have him as your teacher you quickly discovered there was more to Mr.Polak than a loud voice. He truly and deeply forged connections with his students. He created an environment where mandatory lessons were taught, but they weren’t the focus. The real focus was learning. Deep dives and creativity and tangents. Obscure trivia and logical reasoning. He taught so many kids about to head off to middle school how to approach complex problems, how to always question information, ask probing questions and consider deeply. He had a profound impact on so many students.

Some of you may know Mike from church (St.Matthew’s) . As a lifelong Catholic his faith has only grown more important to him as the years go by. He approaches faith with a similar energy as he approaches teaching. Showing up for the “mandatory” things still happens, but deep dives into philosophical interpretations, true explorations of faith, obscure biblical trivia—those are the things that put a spark in his eyes. For years he was on the parish council, was a lector and usher, and taught CCD classes.

Some of you “friend’s of Bob” may know him from AA. His decades of sobriety are no secret. His quick wit, deeply held faith, and unflinching self appraisal always bring an appreciated vibe to a meeting, no matter how early it is.

Some of you may know him from another country. He and Marsha hosted dozens of exchange students from all over the globe. These were the kids he never had, and he took his job as temporary foreign father seriously. He made sure every student got to experience America, see the country, immerse in the culture, discuss the history, taste the food!

I know Uncle Mike a little differently. He has always been in my life. When we moved to Bellevue, we moved 2 blocks away from him. The first time I heard techno music was as a kid when he put a Kraftwerk CD on in the car on a late night drive home from some family event. There was a track that completely hypnotized me—it sounded like noises from a construction site, but somehow it came together and turned into music. I didn’t know music could be so abstract. The first time I had a jump scare was watching the first Jurassic Park with him at his tiny old house in Omaha with the overgrown garden. I’ll never forget how hard he laughed when the velociraptors made me leap like a scalded cat. He was always so delighted to introduce me to a movie or book or album he loved, and discuss the context of it, what made it unique, why he loved it so much. He just wanted to share that feeling, that love, that impact it made on him. As a kid it shaped so much of the lens I viewed the world through. Everytime we had a family event at his house he made sure Indiana jones or Star Wars was playing on the tv for us kids—now the association with those classic movies and family is permanently etched in my psyche. He was the first “boss” I had. He gave me 5 dollars a hour to put river rock around some trees, probably violating some child labor laws. I had a cut on one hand and was moving the rock with difficulty. He noticed, chided me for misrepresenting my ability to work, and bandaged me up. No nurse has ever crafted such a monstrous thing—it made my finger 4 times as wide and an inch longer. It was practically bulletproof. I couldn’t feel anything moving the rest of those rocks with both hands! Once at a family campsite he overheard a contentious interaction I was having with a sibling. He immediately called me out when I started lying to them. He stopped it all and confronted me about it. Told me I was twisting things and making myself believe the lie and continuing doing that would be a problem in the future. I never forgot it. When I was older and struggling with alcohol, he told me his story. He didn’t preach, he didn’t judge, he just laid out his experience and what had helped him.

He never had to do any of these things.

He didn’t have to go (wayyyy past) the extra mile as a teacher with an end of the year awards ceremony and a meticulously constructed archeological dig every summer school session. He didn’t have to volunteer at church. He didn’t have to sponsor anyone. He didn’t have to invite foreign students to live under his roof. He didn’t have to invite me over to watch a scary movie and point out the subtleties the director used. He didn’t have to lend me books by Isaac Asimov or Stephen Baxter and discuss their themes and conclusions with me. He didn’t have to let me borrow his Daft Punk CD. But he did. He always showed up and went past the point other people did. He wanted to show he cared. Underneath the blinding intellect and off-color jokes and loud voice is a man that cares so deeply and isn’t afraid to do the difficult thing.

Now it’s time for us to show up for him.

He needs a bathroom that’s accessible and safe. I have a friend that is a contractor here in Bellevue that can make that happen. Handyman Ed. He is extremely talented and has a good heart. I just mentioned Uncle Mikes situation in passing and he immediately jumped in with both feet. He is giving him tons of discounts, honestly treating him like family—but putting a bathroom in that part of the house is a pretty big endeavor. It will probably cost around $20,000. If we can raise even half of that, it would make an incredible difference in the life of someone who has consistently made an incredible difference in our lives. It’s time for us to do something we don’t have to do. It’s time for us to show we care too. Thank you.