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I am
the first born American in my family
–
frequently referred to as
“the American
baby”
My parents came to the US after escaping Yugoslavia in
1944 and then spending time as refugees
in Austria until 1951 when the boarded a boat for
America to work on a farm. They came
with my sisters Theresa born in Yugoslavia and Leni born
in Austria. My parents were both born in the Syrmien
Region along the Sava River with the Obedska Bara (a
large swamp-forest/natural reserve) between their
villages of Obresch (Obrez) and Kupinovo.
I grew up hearing many stories growing up and as it is with many when they are young it went in ear and out the other. In 1980 a book arrived at my parent’s home that was a Heimatbuch - it contained family records from my mother’s village – and so it began while I was pregnant with my first child. Having a young family doesn’t make it easy to do research so it wasn’t until 2005 when my online research began and finding out that many things previously believed were simply misconceptions. Thankfully I still had my
parents to verify the things I discovered.
I’ve been married since 1975, have 3 grown children and 3 grandchildren with one on the way. I just retired from working as a lunchroom cashier in a local elementary school, where I had been for 22 years. I love working in my flower beds and vegetable garden, mixed media scrapbooking/design, bowling and
entertaining. I have lived in Michigan all of my life and would love to do more traveling some day, but most of that will have to wait until my husband also retires. It is a dream of mine to one day see where my parents were born and lived.
~Eve Brown, 2015
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[Published at
DVHH.org 2015 by Jody McKim Pharr]
 
Last updated: 30 Sep 2020 |
