An evening to remember in Bochnia, Poland

On Tuesday, July 4, the audience from my father's hometow of Bochnia arrived early to hear a presentation of my book, Captured in Liberation. Seated in the front rows were family members from Bochnia and surrounding cities, and filling the room (and adjoining room) were townsfolk.  As the head librarian introduced me to the audience with a copy of my book in hand and my interpreter to my right, it started to feel surreal to me that I would soon share a story that I only learned about 4 years ago in the location where so much of the story takes place.... the story of my father during World War II.

Throughout the presentation, my father,  mother, sisters Julie and Celia, and daughters Brittany and Lauren watched through Skype. Following the formal talk, we put them on the big screen so the audience could see them and ask my father questions. I was then presented with beautiful symbolic gifts from family members and the librarian, who obviously read the story to realize how much her gifts would mean to me.  

Following an hour of signing books with hugs and laughs mixed in with a few tears, some family members from Bochnia of course suggested that we top off the evening at a local restaurant.  It was an evening that I will forever remember, and many others echoed the same sentiments.