Six out of eight of Kristen's great-grandparents immigrated from Poland to the USA from various parts of eastern and southern Poland.  We do not know much about them or the family history that came before them due to the oral history being cut off, but we do know a little including where they came from (including countries that are no longer in existence but are within Poland's current borders like Galicia) and that they were fairly impoverished.  Many were farmers in this new country of theirs and learned enough English to be able to orient their communities, but continued to only speak Polish at home.  Two of her grandmothers learned to speak English at school, including one at a one-room schoolhouse, and taught their families when they went back home.  They were smart and hardworking with an emphasis in my parents' generation of education to break the cycle of poverty without as much struggle to do so.  As a result, my parents' generation was the first to go onto higher education.  We learned to work hard first and find enjoyment in learning.  Kristen imagines these farming great-grandparents from the south of Poland would never have predicted their legacy through the future generations.

Both of us are lifelong learners as are the rest of our family (a strong value our culture).  While they were not able to make this trip, we were happy to bring back what we learned about our heritage to share with them.  Ultimately, this time in Poland left us a deeper sense of our roots.  Kristen can proudly say where her family comes from and know what that means.  She has a better sense of who she is   and for that she is eternally grateful.