ILLINOIS, USA: Visiting Our Family on the Eastern Shore

A death occurred in the family on my husband’s side a few weeks past.  Suddenly, the house was filled with children walking around in confused excitement, while adults were cleaning frantically and packing bags.  Plans were cancelled, and a few hours later, 3 a.m. to be exact, we were in the car sleepy-eyed and nervous.

A handful of drunk drivers zipped by as we drove from the countryside down into Chicago and out again.  A couple of relatively narrow misses had me thankful that my husband is very alert early in the morning.

And, thinking about our friend who was killed by a drunk driver at the age of 19.  And, wishing that the drunk drivers we saw would be pulled over by the police and arrested to protect others like him.  Nobody should have to bury a friend as young as he was, as young as we were. (more…)

ILLINOIS, USA: Interview with “Polish Mama on the Prairie”: From Poland to the USA

ILLINOIS, USA: Interview with “Polish Mama on the Prairie”: From Poland to the USA

Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?

I currently live in Illinois outside of Chicagoland.  I was born in Wroclaw, Poland and moved at age 1 to Austria to flee Communism with my parents.

We lived in a hotel in a village in Austria for about another year before we finally were taken by the Catholic Church to Maryland, where we lived in the inner city for a couple of years before moving to the suburbs of Maryland.

What language(s) do you speak?

I currently speak Polish and English.  I have had little opportunity to speak the German and French I knew as a child but am working on re-learning them again. (more…)