A fabulous fur coat with ornate silver buttons covered her burgundy crushed velvet dress.  The blond locks that once won her husband's heart were tightly bound the night before.  A silver ring placed on her left hand was just enough jewelry.  She arrived tonight with her entire life savings, two large suitcases of dresses (no pants) and a bag full of stilettos.  The last living family member, on my mother's side, to come to the United States of America.

Nearing 90 years old with $100 in her fur coat pocket, Apolonia has arrived.

Surrounded by daughters numbered 1, 2 and 3 she cried out of sheer happiness.  Moments before this photo was snapped.

Her first complaint in America was of the plush down comforter lovingly placed upon her new bed in Chicago.  "This is too much.  I can not sleep under so many covers.  I had many fine covers in Poland that I left behind in my house."

"But. This is the best.  Made in Scandinavia." My mother protested before throwing on a made-in-china purchased at a wholesale club comforter which made her mother smile.  "Now.  This. Is more like it."

Apolonia is in America!