2 minute read
Meet Charlene Jelinski: Longtime Parishioner Grateful for God's Many Blessings
There is one thing Holy Family parishioner Charlene Jelinski can’t say enough, and it’s that she has been truly blessed — with a loving husband and beautiful children, as well as the power of the Lord’s healing.
A few other things about Charlene — she loves popcorn, and she has a real knack for cooking and preparing food.
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Charlene uses that gift of culinary expertise to help our parish priests by providing a meal for special events, diocesan meetings, and more. She also helps with meals for funerals. While Holy Family was being remodeled, she organized and joined other volunteers in cooking meals for those working on the project.
“Making food is a way I can contribute,” she says. “I really enjoy cooking.”
Charlene and her sister, Cheryl, also manage the Country Store at the Holy Family Heritage Festival. It’s a “large undertaking” to run the store, says Charlene.
“It seems like when anything is going on in church involving a few people, I get a call to help with food,” Charlene says. “I am very happy to help.”
Even when she’s not at church, Charlene can be found in her home kitchen canning, baking or cooking. She even brought her talent and love for cooking to the kitchens at the Little Falls schools for 23 years, where she worked as a cook.
Charlene has faced several health struggles, having dealt with inherited polycystic kidney disease her whole life. In turn, her kidney medication put her at a higher risk of cancer, and she has battled skin cancer twice, and breast cancer. “I always say if they can figure out what I’ve got and take care of what I’ve got, I am OK with it,” Charlene says.
She credits the medical community for its research into polycystic kidney disease. In 2003, Charlene received a kidney transplant.
“It was like the Lord put His hands on me and said, ‘Don’t be afraid, you will come through this just fine — this is going to be okay,’” she says
And, it was okay. With a lot of time for healing, Charlene made it through.
“Every morning I wake up and I say, ‘Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Mary,” she says.
While Charlene recalls just how nervous she was ahead of the transplant, she says that the support from her husband, Jerry, and their three children and eight grandchildren made all the difference.
“I would not have gotten through all my health issues without my husband,” she says. “He has been by my side through thick and thin. He’s an angel. The support that I have gotten has been unbelievable, from my husband and kids, and their spouses.”
And about Charlene’s love for popcorn — her sister, Cheryl, has provided support by getting popcorn for Charlene whenever she has needed it. “You can’t do it by yourself,” Charlene says. “You need lots of support, lots of prayers and lots of hugs.”
Another passion Charlene and Jerry share is to travel with Gary Block Tours in Little Falls.
“We have gone east, to west, and everywhere in between!” she says.
Reflecting on her life of sharing faith, friendship, and food, Charlene is so thankful and says she always strives to give back to the Lord and her parish.
“The Lord has been very, very good to me,” she says.
