Going to Poland, 1921

Going to Poland, 1921

My paternal grandparents were Polish immigrants who met and married in Lowell, Massachusetts. They had a daughter named Alfreda, born in 1917, who died during the 1918 influenza pandemic. Their second child, Irene, was born in 1920, and my grandmother returned to Poland in 1921, bringing Irene to visit the family. Tragically, Irene died of dysentery while they were there, at just 17 months old. After my grandmother returned to Lowell, my grandparents had two more children—my father and his brother. I can only wonder how the traumatic loss of the two baby girls impacted the lives of the parents and the brothers born later.

The folk art in the background symbolizes the trip to Poland, and the two white birds on the right represent Alfreda and Irene.