200 angelsof Mrs Teresa

My mother, my siblings and I lived in very hard conditions right after the war. In 1944, during the Warsaw Uprising, our family home in Warsaw was reduced to rubble. At the time we were away for the summer in Żabieniec. I was left with three dresses and a pair of sandals. Apart from that we had nothing. Even so, my mother smiled at people and had many friends. She often told us: “The joy is in giving, not in taking.” I watched her, and I think I took a lot of that from her.

Where does your talent for acting come from? How did it all begin?

I think that what I have, and what moves the audience so much, is a gift from God. I played the piano from the age of three, I was artistically sensitive, and I sang already in kindergarten and at every school celebration.

As a very young girl I was already performing on stage and even in film. Right after my final school exams, in 1953, I got into the drama school in Łódź. My friend Jadwiga Barańska applied as well, but she was not accepted that time. For a whole year I kept telling her what the examination board pays attention to, and the following year she got in. She later played the unforgettable Barbara Niechcic in the film “Nights and Days”. I was in that film too, in a small role. The film was nominated for an Oscar in 1977.

I spent my childhood, my school years and my studies in Łódź. Those were wonderful years with my family. My childhood was very warm and bright. I think that also gave me the strength, and the memory, to share and to give. Sometimes these are simple gestures, but afterwards we feel so good, so angelic.

Please tell us about the greatest love of your life.

My first love was a cameraman. I fell into his lens… and caught his eye. He took a lot of photos of me and fell in love, and so did I. Then there was a wedding, but the marriage ended quite quickly.

And from 1963 I had my dearest one, Tomek Zaliwski. He played “Magneto” in “Four Tank-Men and a Dog” and in many other films. We made a beautiful couple: the same artistic sensitivity, the same profession and a wonderful life together for 44 years. Sadly, my beloved husband fell ill with cancer and passed away 21 years ago. It is hard to fill the gap left by someone you love. Sometimes I feel very sad and lonely, but I also understand those who have lost someone close.

Would you like to share your most important message?

In my opinion, the most important thing in life is to be happy
with what you do.

When I come to the set at such an advanced age and leave after 6 or 8 hours of filming, I feel tired, but also happy. It isn’t only a question of age. My son always dreamed of being a pilot, but he only got his pilot’s licence after he turned forty. Now he flies small planes and he is very happy. You have to believe that everything is possible, even a new love in later life. We can simply help one another, bake an apple pie together, drink tea and talk. That means a great deal, because it gives you the will to live.

And how is your health, Mrs Teresa?

I am almost 90 and not everything works well any more. I have problems with my spine and my knee. I haven’t had an operation, because I always felt it would take too much time, and then there would be rehabilitation on top of it. So now I go shopping with my little trolley, my so-called “Mercedes”, and it helps me keep walking. I used to love cycling. I rode my bike everywhere I could. I only gave it away last year.

At my age, anything that can help even a little is very much needed — even when it comes to how you feel, to being noticed.

I believe in herbs and have used them for a long time

Not long ago I received a beautiful letter from a small Polish family company that has been making herbal products for years, and with it a parcel with a herbal cream. I believe in herbs and have used them for a long time. My mother and my grandmother taught me that. That is why I answered their letter. Because it is not only about what was in the parcel, but about noticing a problem, about feelings, about someone noticing something I need — the friendly gesture of this company.

My mother and grandmother taught me to use herbs

I gargled with sage and drank flaxseed for digestion. I believe in herbal creams one hundred per cent and I use them. Herbs work a little more slowly, but that doesn’t mean they work any worse.

My dream is to stay fully fit and healthy for as long as possible

When we sent Mrs Teresa a letter and a parcel, we didn’t know whether we would ever get a reply. All the greater were our surprise and emotion when she wrote back. We were especially moved that it wasn’t just about the parcel, but above all about the gesture itself — about noticing another person, caring and wanting to help. It was this reply that became one of our inspirations for creating the “My Angelic Gesture Campaign”.

Dear Mrs Teresa, Poles love you. How did that happen?

If that is so, I am very glad. I think people like in me what I brought from my family home: an interest in other people and the wish to help and support them somehow. You do something good for another person and you are happy.

These are such angelic gestures and ways of behaving. People send me all kinds of presents, for example angels. I have porcelain angels, wooden ones, an angel made by children from a Barbie doll, I even have a footballer angel. I am happy about every one of my more than 200 angels. Most of them were given to me by people! What matters to me is not the object itself, but the fact that someone wanted to give it to me. The feeling hidden behind the gift: friendship, care, love.

I love angels — I have more than 200 of them — but I love angelic gestures even more

Not all angels have wings. The ones without wings I call friends.

Because an angel doesn’t always look like a figurine with white wings. Perhaps the angel is the neighbour who carries your shopping in, the granddaughter who calls, or the daughter who sits down next to her mum and really listens to her for 10 minutes.

And what will your Angelic Gesture be?

I would like to ask you all to do something good for another person.

Everyone knows what times we live in. Let us show kindness to others, and to ourselves too. I believe that good always comes back and changes the world for the better. And that is something we all need very much today. One gesture can change one person, and many good gestures can achieve much more. Just imagine what would happen if all of us together made a Million Angelic Gestures. How would it change our world? Everything is in our hands! So let’s get up from our armchairs, switch off the TV for a moment and do something good for someone.

With warmest regards
Teresa Lipowska

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