Roselle woman writes book about her husband's journey

By Susan Dibble

sdibble@dailyherald.com

Throughout her nearly 50 years of married life, Cynthia Janczy of Roselle had heard bits and pieces of her husband's stories of how he grew up as an orphan.

But it wasn't until they were both senior citizens and began to seek out information about the family he never knew that she decided to write a book. For the first time, Matt Janczy sat and talked in depth about his life at St. Mary's Training School (now Maryville Academy) in Des Plaines.

“It helped him a lot. It helped me a lot to understand the thing he had been through,” Cynthia said. “I think it's brought us closer together.”

The result of those conversations, a 61-page volume titled “Love Se Magnifique,” recently was published by Tate Publishing & Enterprises and is available at barnesandnoble.com, amazon.com and tatepublishing.com/bookstore.

The 70-year-old first-time author will have a book signing from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 9, at Caribou Coffee, 55 W. Schaumburg Road, Schaumburg.

Cynthia said she wrote the book, which doesn't use the real names of family members, because she wants everyone to know how important love is in the life of a child.

“He was never hugged or kissed,” she said. “He had no one to teach him how to love.”

Matt's lack of family background and difficulty in expressing emotions brought chaos in their own family while they were raising their four children, she said. Since then, the tensions have eased and the couple now enjoy six grandchildren.

Matt admits the journey has been a long one since his days at the Catholic training school, where he lived from age 3 until he graduated from high school.

“They (the school) tried the best they could do. They could not give you the love and support a parent would,” he said.

Some of the lessons were harsh, but they taught him self-reliance, responsibility and hard work, he said.

When he was a sophomore in high school, the principal called Matt into his office, told him he wasn't very smart and might not finish high school. So Matt was not given an opportunity to take math and science classes, and instead cleaned the school's pool and took the towels to the laundry (and the next year became pool manager).

“You develop a strong sense of survival and a really strong sense of determination,” he said.

In the health education class that Matt took instead of high school biology, he learned first aid and found his calling. He became the first aid manager of the school football team and did so well that a high school counselor steered him toward nursing when he finished high school.

Matt would go on to become a registered nurse, take supervisory positions at Cook County Hospital and go back to tell the principal he should never give up on anyone.

“We were created by God not to be desecrated by man,” he said.

It's a sentiment shared by his wife, who says no child should be left alone in the world as her husband was.

“Love is the most important thing there is,” she said.

If you go

What: Cynthia Janczy's book signing

When: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 9

Where: Caribou Coffee, 55 W. Schaumburg Road, Schaumburg