This beautiful book, complete with 73 vintage photos, inspires the heart It is the story of a twenty-year-old Polish immigrant, Karolina Franek Grabiec, her courageous 1913 journey to America, and her family's survival from bootlegging in the coal mines of West Virginia to living in Chicago and Arizona. The story begins with Karolina leaving her first-born child in Czechoslovakia temporarily, she thought, and describes her growing family's survival in the coal-mining town of Galloway, West Virginia. The story continues with their experiences of big-city life in Chicago during the Depression of the 1930s and life in the Arizona of the '40s and '50s. The story goes on to describe the inspirational life of one daughter, the author's mother, Helen, as a World War II bride, wife, mother, and opera star. While exercising faith through trials and tribulations, these women left a legacy of love and inspiration to new generations of spirited individuals. Families like Karolina's-with determination, faith, love, and hard work-helped make America a great nation. All ages can enjoy this family history and be uplifted by the optimistic spirit of Karolina and Helen.