BETHLEHEM – A mother’s love is a force to be reckoned with. And so was Gerda Fenstermaker.
Fenstermaker's daughters — Ann Wlazelek of Upper Macungie Township and Jane Budman of Emmaus — say she was beautiful, talented and creative: “A lovely force to be reckoned with.”
- Former journalist Ann Wlazelek has written a children's book
- The book is based on a story her mother used to tell her son
- The moral of the story is that children should listen to their parents
In one of her more imaginative moments, Fenstermaker — “Granny” to grandson Brad Wlazelek — made up a story about Henry, a frog who didn’t listen to his mother.
There’s a happy ending, but only after three moments of sheer panic for Henry and sure terror for Mother Frog.
“Henry Didn’t Listen,” created by Fenstermaker and written by Wlazelek, a former longtime newspaper reporter in the Lehigh Valley. It was published last month by Leesport, Berks County-based Crave Press.
Fellow writer and journalist Margie Peterson put Wlazelek in touch with Crave Press a few months after Peterson published her own book, “The Boy Who Never Threw Anything Out.”
Peterson enlisted the help of a former college friend, Cheryl Bielli, to illustrate her book.
Bielli also illustrated Henry’s story, this time using pastels to bring out lots of emotion, especially seen in Mother Frog as she leaves the park alone after looking high and low for Henry.
“Brad was in preschool when mother made up the story,” Wlazelek said. “He loved it, especially with the sounds she incorporated. They were simple but they were fun sounds.”
Brad loved it, so Wlazelek was sure other kids would love it, too. As a result, she put together the prototype of the book using clip art so her nieces and nephews could also share in Fenstermaker’s creativity.
The prototype became the book.
“Granny” made the most of the story to drive home the point that children, especially Brad, should listen to their parents.
“It worked for a while with Brad,” Wlazelek said.
Being the “lovely force” she was, Fenstermaker always was up for a party, a trip, a spa day or, most fondly, a dirty martini with three olives, Wlazelek said with a chuckle.
Gerda Roehler left Germany to come to the United States by boat in 1928, when she was 11 years old.
“The Statue of Liberty was so impressive,” she told a reporter years ago, ”It was simply awesome, overpowering.”
She was not as enthralled by Ellis Island, however, according to daughter Jane Budman.
She really never wanted to revisit the landmark, Budman said, even for school trips.
“She was not a fan of the ‘f-word, and that word was fluoride. She was convinced it was rat poison.”Author Ann Wlazelek, of her mother, Gerda Fenstermaker
“Her medical exam was to run up and down the stairs five times,” Budman said. “She would never go back.”
Fenstermaker’s strong opinions often were heard.
“She was not a fan of the ‘f-word,’” Wlazelek said, “and that word was fluoride. She was convinced it was rat poison.”
She was a whiz at Pinochle and never said no to a New York deli Reuben, spa day or any form of sun, sand and beach.
She was 90 when she died in 2008.
As Wlazelek and Budman wrapped themselves and each other in their mother’s memory, it was easy to feel Gerda Fenstermaker right there between them, smiling, still enjoying her daughters' company.
Suddenly, they realized that throughout the interview, Budman was wearing the same necklace at that moment that Fenstermaker was wearing in the Easter photo above.
The three women were connected again, if they were ever disconnected.
"We've made her immortal," Wlazelek said.
