"Irene's experience, motivation and ambition empowered her to write this book. For many years Irene dreamed of finding her parents' and little sister's burial place in Andijan, Uzbekistan. Finally, in 1998 as members of an Elder Treks tour, she and her husband undertook a fantastic adventure traveling challenging roads into regions rarely explored by Westerners. They traveled the ancient Silk Road on the Karakoram Highway, the highest paved road in the world, through Pakistan, Kyrgyztan and northwest China before eventually arriving in Uzbekistan. As a child in Uzbekistan, Irene lived in hardship despite the help of friendly Uzbek Muslims, her return as an adult, wife, mother and grandmother continued her efforts to resolve her feelings about those years and to dedicate herself to the memories of her Mother, Father and Sister. Irene's strength is her survival."