Trending
Thank you for publishing the article by Mary Sieminski on Marion Bower: "An inspiring teacher for aspiring citizens." One immigrant family she taught was mine. The article brought up so many fond childhood memories of the first few years after my family arrived from Germany to the United States after WWII as displaced Polish persons. My parents, Luba and Frank Ochej, and I were settling in Williamsport in 1952 with a new culture, no job or English language skills.
My parents met Mrs. Bower while she was teaching English classes for immigrants at night school. By that time, my dad was working in a leather tanning company, and my mom was a homemaker. Mrs. Bower helped my dad apply to the technical school for night classes in drafting. She also visited our home to help my mom learn how to use her kitchen appliances safely and to teach her new American recipes. All lessons were in English and while I sat in the kitchen, I also learned new words for "cup", "butter", "milk" and other common terms associated with cooking and eating.
Mrs. Bower also helped my mom buy a used gas stove and arranged for a home economist to come to our house. We learned how to operate and clean the stove. We learned how to cook soup on top of the stove and how to bake and broil in the oven. My mom was soon baking chocolate cookies every afternoon when I got home from school!
We also found out about celebrating Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July and Thanksgiving. Mrs. Bower hosted a large Christmas party for all her immigrant students. We exchanged gifts, sang Christmas carols and shared food with people from all over the world. Of course, we already had our own Polish traditions for some holidays.
Thanksgiving was the hardest one to get used to, but eventually we learned to love the turkey feast and the sharing that it represented. I don't know how my parents found the time or effort for all that was required to live a new life in a new country, but somehow, they managed to even fit in evening lessons that prepared them for the citizenship exam. Mrs. Bower coached them for those lessons too, and they passed with flying colors.
Since we had no family in the United States, Mrs. Bower was like a favorite aunt for me. Getting used to a new life would have been much harder without her help and friendship.
HELEN OCHEJ
Rockville, Maryland
Submitted by email