Connections

Cousin Michael

My cousin Michael called one day, surprising me because we had never had a personal conversation. He had just finished reading his father’s copy of Journey Into Poland. He said, “I am not a reader, but I sat down with it and didn’t get up ‘til I was finished. My wife asked me what it was about cause she never saw me read for so long.” He told me he learned more about his family and his father than he had ever known. He tried to come to every visit at Uncle Michael’s and calls me regularly now. This has been another wonderful outcome of my publishing the book.

Just Around the Corner

One day while shopping at CVS, I was helped by a clerk with an accent I thought I recognized. Sure enough, Aneta is from Poland and we soon had many things to talk about at every visit to the store. She helped celebrate my book being published by coming to my Book Launching Party. She got to meet Wladek, my family, and many of the people who have enjoyed the book and the stories. She travels back to her family home near Krakow regularly.

Such a Coincidence

Gary King found me on Virtual Tourist.com as he planned a trip to Poland to search for his family’s roots. We emailed a lot and I arranged for him to meet Wladek in Poland. Wladek helped him research and at the end of their trip, we spent time together in Krakow. Gosia was with us as well as Wladek. We laughed, ate, and marvelled at our shared history. His grandparents lived just down the street from my grandfather in Zarembki in the 1800’s. I visited Gary and wife Carol at their home in Connecticut, they came to my Book Launching and when Wladek visited the US we all met up in Chicopee, MA for lunch at a Polish restaurant.

A Cousin Discovered!

Richard Szczawinski somehow located my book and me… discovering along the way that he is a DNA match to Uncle Michael and to members of Wladek’s family. We were so excited, he decided to come from his home in Montreal, Canada to meet Uncle Michael. He and his wife, Yoon Ju Kang had a wonderful visit with newly found family. Later when he brought his father’s war mementos to a museum in Rzeszow, Poland, he got to meet up with Wladek as well! Hard to believe the way we’ve come together from all around the globe.