Wojciech Kulicki Shares His Thoughts

My name is Wojciech Kulicki, and I am very honored to be part of the fantastic team that brought Jake’s Mission to fruition. Janet recently asked me to share some brief remarks with you…

First, a bit of history about myself -

I first met Janet in early 2008 when she worked as the Marketing Director in my architecture firm. However, that was not the first time I had heard of her.

Many of my colleagues were close friends with Janet during her experience with Jacob in 2007, and I overheard limited second-hand accounts of her experience.

In reality, however, I knew very little about her story until she asked to speak with me in late 2008. We had just finished working on a company site, and she saw talent in me that I didn’t really see in myself. I also reminded her of Jacob, which was a touching thing to hear.

As we got to know one another better and I experienced Jacob’s story through the Caringbridge website (which inspired me to suggest putting together a commemorative eBook), and through my chats with Janet, I was amazed at the character and influence of such a young man.

Janet’s personal accounts of things Jacob would do and say during his fulfilling childhood and during his experience at the transplant center were touching, thought-provoking, and truly awe-inspiring. It taught me with amazing directness about what’s truly important in life and about the seemingly impossible trials we face in our day-to-day lives.

Two song lyrics continued to resonate in my head through those months (I am partial to country music for its ability to speak to family values and life experiences):

“There are times in life when you gotta crawl…Lose your grip, trip and fall…When you can’t lean on no-one else…That’s when you find yourself. I’ve been around and I noticed that…Walking’s easier when the road is flat…Yeah, the good Lord gave us mountains…So we could learn how to fly.” – Lonestar, ‘Mountains’

“Cause sometimes that mountain you’ve been climbing…Is just a grain of sand…And what you’ve been out there searching for forever…Is in your hands…And when you figure out…Love is all that matters after all…It sure makes everything else…Seem so small.” – Carrie Underwood, ‘So Small’

I encourage you to listen to these in their entirety – they are a great inspiration every time I hear them on the radio.

So that’s a little bit about my history with Janet and my experience in learning about her son.

When Janet asked me to write a short piece about ‘Do What’s Right,’ one experience immediately came to mind that I’d like to share with you as well -

As I was driving home one night, I was thinking about my first son who will be born sometime in January. I was overcome with a bit of fear as I realized that I never really had a father.

My parents divorced when I was 7, my step-father was an alcoholic from whom I stayed far away, and for the other 50% of my childhood years, it was simply me and my Mom.

Without a role model to follow, would I be able to give my own son the right guidance, support, and modeling? How would I know what to do?

Like an answer from above, my eyes shifted to the DWR bracelet hanging from my driving arm. ‘How silly of me!,‘ I thought.

As long as I continue doing what’s right in the situations that I come against, and teach my children to do the same thing in their lives, can I really have regrets about my decisions? That thought gave me a great deal of peace and comfort.

The DWR bracelet has been an incredible source of inspiration. Having worked with Janet on this project for almost a year, I was constantly being reminded to ‘do what’s right,’ but it wasn’t until I had that reminder attached to my wrist that it really hit home.

My sincere congratulations go out to Janet, who was able to make the ‘Mission’ a reality! Don’t forget to get your own DWR bracelet and spread Jake’s Mission of DWR to your friends and family!