24/08/2026
I’m sitting here this evening feeling a little nostalgic. I thought I’d write it down, because sometimes it’s only when something is coming to an end that you begin to realize just how much it meant to you.
In a few days, Kacper Romuzga is going back to Poland.
And only now am I starting to realize just how much I’m going to miss this kid.
Kacper turned 16 in July. He is Monika and Grzesiek’s son. Grzesiek works with me, and Kacper is now finishing his third summer spent here with us in Denmark. He also spent one of his school holidays here with us.
The first time he came here, he was 14.
I remember him from back then perfectly.
A 14-year-old kid who had an answer for absolutely everything.
Sometimes I would look at him and think, “God, what a little smart-ass this kid is…”
There was only one problem.
A moment later, it would very often turn out that this little smart-ass… was actually right. 😄
And that’s how our story began.
Three years have passed.
Today Kacper is 16 and I’m 51. I’ve experienced quite a bit in life. I run a company, and over the years I’ve worked with all kinds of people. Older, younger, educated and uneducated, people with years of experience and people who were only just starting out.
I’ve met incredibly talented people. I’ve also met people who simply couldn’t be bothered to do anything.
And these days, it’s honestly getting harder and harder to surprise me.
Yet this 16-year-old boy keeps surprising me all the time.
In my 51 years, I honestly can’t remember meeting another person so young who has made such an impression on me.
Kacper is incredibly hardworking.
Reliable. Conscientious. Responsible. Resourceful.
He watches, listens and remembers. He thinks about what he’s doing. If he doesn’t know how to do something, he wants to learn.
He doesn’t look for reasons why something can’t be done.
Instead, he thinks about how to get it done.
And sometimes I have to remind myself that this kid is only 16.
And the best part is that it isn’t just about construction work.
Yesterday, he made us pierogi with blueberries.
This afternoon, he asked if we wanted gołąbki — Polish stuffed cabbage rolls.
Of course we said yes, laughing a little, because I don’t think any of us truly believed that 16-year-old Kacper was actually about to walk into the kitchen and make gołąbki from scratch.
Well… he did.
And you look at him and wonder:
Kacper, what are you going to surprise us with next?
Because it doesn’t matter whether you give him tools on a construction site or a pot in the kitchen. He wants to try. He wants to learn. He wants to do things himself.
But over these three years, something else happened too.
Kacper stopped being, in my eyes, simply Grzesiek’s son who comes to Denmark for the summer to spend time with his dad, do some work and earn his first decent money.
He became part of our everyday life.
The guys live at my place, so when the working day is over, we don’t just close the company door behind us and disappear in different directions.
We come home together. We eat, sit around, talk and laugh. We share all those ordinary little parts of everyday life.
Many times we would go out for ice cream — me, Kacper, my little Lena, and earlier Kinga as well.
Nothing extraordinary.
Just ice cream. An ordinary evening. An ordinary conversation.
But I think it’s only when you know someone is about to leave that you begin to understand that these ordinary little moments are exactly what the best memories are made of.
I also see Kacper with the other guys, and I get the feeling that they’ve all genuinely grown fond of him.
Even though he’s the youngest, to us he isn’t “Grzesiek’s kid who came over for the summer.”
He’s simply one of us.
And now the moment has come when we have to say: the summer holidays are over.
If it were up to Kacper, he would stay here.
He’d like to keep working, earning money and being here with us. And I understand him perfectly. He’s doing incredibly well and, for his age, he earns good money.
But now I want to say something not as a business owner.
Just as a 51-year-old man who has seen a fair bit of life.
Kacper — go back to school.
You have your whole life ahead of you to work.
Finish your construction technical school. Learn. Gain knowledge and a profession. And if later you want to continue your education — do it.
I know perfectly well that having a master’s degree or an engineering degree doesn’t guarantee success in life. I know plenty of people whose education today has absolutely nothing to do with what they actually do for a living.
Life writes its own stories.
But school gives you knowledge and, most importantly, choices.
And you already have something that can’t be learned from books alone.
You have hands-on experience.
At 16, you have already seen and done things that some people don’t experience until after they finish school.
So don’t choose between school and work today.
Take both.
There will be plenty of time to work.
In a few days, you’ll go back to Poland and start your second year of construction technical school.
And we’ll stay here.
And I already know it’s going to feel different.
We’ll miss your talking.
Your ideas.
The fact that you always have an answer for everything.
We’ll miss having you at work, at the table, in the car, and during all those ordinary moments that we barely even notice while they’re happening.
Of course we’ll stay in touch. Professionally and privately.
This isn’t goodbye.
But we’re still going to miss you.
And I probably will more than most.
There’s one more thing I want to say.
Monika and Grzesiek should be damn proud of you.
Because you can give a child many things. You can help them, buy things for them, give them opportunities and make their start in adult life easier.
But raising a young man who, at just 16, is this hardworking, reliable, conscientious, responsible and independent — while still being a normal, great kid — that’s something much bigger.
And things like that don’t come from nowhere.
So Monika, Grzesiek — you’ve done one hell of a job.
You have an amazing son.
And I’m damn happy that these three summers gave me the chance to get to know him.
Not just as a young worker.
Not just as Grzesiek’s son.
Simply as Kacper.
A kid I’ve genuinely grown very fond of.
I’m 51 years old and I’ve seen quite a bit of life. It really isn’t easy to impress me anymore.
And yet you, Kacper, at only 16 years old, have made a huge impression on me.
Not because you know how to work.
Not because you made us gołąbki or pierogi.
Not even because you’re so damn resourceful.
But above all because of the kind of young man you are.
Hardworking. Reliable. Conscientious. Curious about the world. Someone who simply wants to get up and do things.
And perhaps the biggest compliment I can give you today is this:
In my 51 years of life, I honestly can’t remember meeting another 16-year-old quite like you.
Go back to school, young man.
Learn. Grow. Try new things. Make mistakes, learn from them, and don’t lose along the way what you have inside you today.
And then go and do great things with your life.
We’ll be here.
And your place here will be waiting for you too.
It’s just that, damn it…
we’re going to miss you.
And I think I’m going to miss you more than I ever expected. ❤️
