By Amy Batista, Special Writer
HIGHTSTOWN – The title for it came to her in a dream. And it proved to be golden indeed.
A local resident is the author of a biography “Keepers of Golden Dreams,” based on stories told to her by her mother, who grew up in a small village in Slovakia.
“It’s not factual,” said Theresa Philips Sirawsky of Hightstown. “The title 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.”
Ms. Sirawsky’s parents came to America to create a better life for themselves. My father arrived first, followed shortly thereafter by her mother and grandmother.
“They believed that there was so much wealth in this country, that the streets were lined with gold,” said Ms. Sirawsky. “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 Ms. Sirawsky and her husband married, they moved to New Jersey. She was the only daughter who moved away from her 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,” said Ms. Sirawsky. “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.”
Ms. Sirawsky started the story during the time when her grandfather returned to Slovakia after leaving America. He had been working to make more money so that he could bring the family to America someday.
“He then suddenly passed away and the family thought they would never make it to America,” she said.
Somehow, the family members did make it back to America, which is the basis for the story.
“I wanted to write the book because I felt I could relate to my grandmother. She also left home, which was in a coal mining town in Pennsylvania called Nanty Glo, to go live in New Jersey to start a family,” she said. “Since my grandmother left her home in Europe to seek a better life, I believed I have felt the same emotions as my grandmother.”
Ms. Sirawsky said that the book took many years to write because she first wrote it on a typewriter. Once she eventually got a computer, though, the process went much quicker.
“I don’t remember exactly how long ago I began it, but it was at least 20 years ago and it was just published this year after many careful revisions,” she said.
The book was published Jan. 14, 2016. It is online at amazon.com and was anticipated to arrive in bookstores as of last week.
Ms. Sirawsky described publishing her book as a “joyful experience.”
“I am hearing from my grandchildren, nieces and nephews and how they are overjoyed with the prospect of knowing the story of their great-grandparents and grandparents,” she said. “I loved that the family has all given me feedback and many of them said they couldn’t stop reading it or couldn’t put it down.”
Now, the family now wants a sequel. Ms. Sirawsky said that she has already started the sequel, but she was waiting to see how the first one would be received before moving forward with it.
“My parents had 13 children and I hope to have the time to write about each of them,” she said.
