1: Delving Into Zaremba Ancestry

My investigation into the Zaremba ancestry began unexpectedly during a group tour in India and Nepal. On the first day, our tour leader asked each of the fifteen travelers to introduce themselves and state their country of origin…

2: Notable Zaremba Names Through History

History is messy. Names appear, disappear, and sometimes leave marks that ripple far beyond their time. The Zarembas are full of such names. I’ve found many, but only a few with enough detail to tell a story…

3: My Roots

I traveled to Romania, to the city of Sucevița, in search of my ancestry. This was the city where my great-grandfather grew up before leaving for the United States and later for Canada…

4: Grandma and Grandpa Zaremba

Dan was born in 1909 in Velva, North Dakota, to Nick and Angela (Boghean) Zaremba. As the eldest son, he worked tirelessly on the farm alongside his father. He attended Croft School only until grade five before leaving to help support the family…

5: Grandma and Grandpa Woods

We’ve talked a lot about the Zaremba side of things. For now, let’s step away from that and look at my mom’s family. We’ll start with my grandma. She came from the Ursu line…

6: Mom And Dad

Wesley “Bill” Zaremba was born on September 16, 1931, at the family farm near Ormiston, Saskatchewan. He was the oldest son—the second child of Catherine (Banilevic) and Dan Zaremba…

7: Childhood on the Farm

I was born on July 3 1958. It seems my parents did not think clothes were necessary for a photo shoot. It seems my sister Debbie kinda liked me as a baby…

8: The Lessons of the Farm

Debbie and I joined the 4-H club when we were eleven. Training a calf meant teaching it to walk calmly at your side—not lagging behind, not surging ahead, but matching your pace exactly…

9: Lessons from the Farm

I mentioned butchering animals, yet I never considered how few farmers or ranchers do this anymore. How many people have truly lived that part of rural life? Not many…

10: A Hellish Marriage

Soon after starting my apprenticeship, I married Ann Marie Jelinski. The details may not be for everyone. However, I am now comfortable speaking on this matter to my heart’s desire…

11: Divorce Proceedings

Ann Marie was still in the house. Still ruling it with fear. She made it clear that if I disobeyed her, even once, she’d take Christie away from me. I wouldn’t get to be her father. That was the threat she used like a weapon…

12: Life as an Adult

After finishing high school, I began my apprenticeship as an electrician. It was a practical choice, and I took it seriously. I was accepted into the program and started working at Baker’s Electric…

13: I Am Arrested

Writers love drama: the twists, the chaos, the perfect setup for a story. Memory, however, is not a storyteller. It’s messier. Protective. It blurs the edges of reality…

14: Blackmail And Almost Murdered

I will interrupt the series of yearly events to tell the full story of how a terrorist can completely alter a person’s life. This chapter begins before 1989 and doesn’t end until 2025…

15: A New Lease on Life

The year was 1992. Just one year left on my self-imposed deadline to hit a net worth of $1 million—a number that sounded impressive on paper and slightly terrifying in reality…

16: When a Motorhome Meets Mardi Gras

I cannot pinpoint the exact year the following events occurred, but it hardly matters. I decided to take my largest customer, two sales representatives from my major suppliers, one of my largest customers, the laser repair technician from the company that sold my lasers…

17: Welcome to the New Millennium

I knew I had to expand again. I planned to reach about 30,000 square feet of total manufacturing area. At the same time, I began designing the new building and preparing to order it…

18: Relationships: The Cost of Negativity

Some lessons don’t arrive like thunderclaps. They drift in. Quietly. Almost politely. And by the time you realize what they are, they’ve already been charging you interest…

19: Calm, Chaos, and What Follows

Sometimes life gives you a gift so pure that you start to think the universe might finally be playing fair. That was Tyce Riley Zaremba…

20: New Lessons Learnt

A year after Siemens took over my company, tensions reached a breaking point. The new boss had a problem with how I was quoting jobs. He thought small jobs were a waste of time…

21: The Worst Year of My Life

If you’ve read this far, then you’ve heard about 2022. The year I thought was going to be a turning point. The year we were finally licensed. The year things were supposed to turn around…

22: My First Travel Experiences

The first time I truly left Canada, I was nine. Mom, Dad, my sister Debbie, and Uncle Kenny packed into the car, and we headed south to California. It was a long road trip…

23: Kenya and Tanzania

In 2010, I set out to complete the final two items on my bucket list: climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and flying in a Russian MiG UB-29 fighter jet. The journey began in Tanzania, where, less than 24 hours after landing…

24: Entering the Stratosphere

Alright, so the very last thing on my bucket list? Flying in a freakin’ Mig UB-29. Ever since I saw Maverick do his thing in Top Gun, I was hooked—I mean, who doesn’t want to blast off in a fighter jet and flirt with the edge of space…

25: Return to the Road

As I departed the train station after the overnight train ride from the Mig flight, the girl who lived in St Petersburg met me at the main terminal area…

26: India and Nepal – During the Festival of Holi

India came first. And it hit me like a tidal wave. There was no easing in. You landed and were dropped into sensory overload: heat, horns, movement, smells both sweet and rotting. Your instincts screamed to get control…

27: Indo-China Odyssey

The tour began in Thailand. It wasn’t my first time there. But this was different. Back in Regina, a friend had once told me Vietnam was life-changing. She had never been, but something about it called to her…

28: Highlights Across Two Continents

Europe is what happens when you let a 19th-century railroad tycoon design everyone’s bucket list. You’ll see every cathedral, castle, and café you’re supposed to see, with about as much personal connection as a museum audio guide…

29: Unforgettable Antarctica

The ship’s crew presented two options for crossing the Drake Passage: “Drake Lake” (calm) or “Drake Shake” (maritime punishment). We got the extended director’s cut of the Shake.

30: Diving Headfirst

After Antarctica, normal travel felt like switching from VR to flipbook animation. The pyramids? Cool, but where’s the glacier calving? Petra’s Treasury? Beautiful, but I kept expecting penguins to waddle out…

31: Where the Maps Stop

Morocco is a place where every corner wants to teach you something, whether you ask for it or not. We spent most of our time outside the cities—wandering through dusty villages, low-rise towns, and backroads where nobody bothers with street names…

32: My Most Fulfilling Businesses

If there’s one thing I’ve made painfully clear, it’s that when I travel, I’m not just there for the Instagram shots

33: Memories That Refuse to Fade

There are events in life that leave permanent marks. They don’t fade with time. If anything, they sharpen. These are mine…

34: The Outcome of Adversity, Laughter, and Experiences

I know the person I am, and I’m proud of that. I don’t talk about it much—not because I’m hiding it, but because I don’t want it to come across as bragging…

35: My Life in Lyrics

There’s an old Frank Sinatra song you’ve probably heard. “My Way.” You know the one. The unofficial theme song for people who made a habit of ignoring advice…

36: Parting Advice—The Four Rules

If I leave you with anything, let it be these four simple rules I live by. Not because I found them in a self-help book, but because I created them and have lived by them…

The article by Gary Zaremba, entitled Smiling through Adversity is a refreshing look at the topic of resilience. His open discussion of his personal hardships, which included loss of deep foundations in life and almost dying, made me look at the challenges of life with a positive mind. This is one of the memoirs that testify to the power of the human spirit.

The reading of the article Smiling through Adversity has provided me with invaluable knowledge in conquering chaos. The events of Zaremba are easy to relate to because of his captivating narrative and uncooked sincerity. The teachings about happiness in the face of adversity will remain with me for a long period.

The article Smiling through Adversity was a strong exploration of resilience, in my opinion. The memory of the exuberating escapades combined with the shadowing episodes made by Zaremba was close to the heart. The fact that he has been able to be positive despite life conditions inspires the readers to develop their own strength and perseverance.

This memoir is distinguished by the level of authenticity. Gary Zaremba is an author with very deep reflections on life, family, and individual development. His tales of survival and happiness in the chaos have made me take a critical look at my own life with a new outlook.

Smiling Through Adversity is an awesome contemplation of life issues. The fact that Zaremba is able to describe his struggles as well as his moments of happiness gave me a sense of comfort and inspiration. His journey makes the readers remember that resilience may result in unexpected pleasures.