Keepers of Golden Dreams

The title for my book, Keepers of Golden Dreams, came to me in a dream. I had been pondering over what to name it for quite some time and couldn’t think of anything appropriate. Then one morning, I woke up with a start and there it was, ablaze in my mind.

My parents came to America to create a better life for themselves and the family they hoped to have in the future. My father came first, and my mother and grandmother came shortly after. The people believed that there was so much wealth in this country that the streets were lined with gold.

While growing up, my mother told us about her life growing up in Slovakia, and I would listen trying to picture how it must have been and how hard it must have been to leave all that they loved for a better life.

When my husband and I married, we came directly to New Jersey to live. I was the only daughter who moved away from my mother. I missed my parents and siblings and my life back home. After many years, I began to think about what I missed and realized that my mother had experienced the same emotions. I realized that the future generations should know what my parents went through to leave everything and go to a place where the customs and language were different and with very little money. I wanted them to know the story of their lives, so I began to write about them and their journey.

-- Theresa Philips Sirawsky