Chapter 11 of The Immigrant and the Outlaw is called Bosnian Refugees.

A couple of stories are about siblings Dzenaela and Adis when they were grade schoolers. They are two of the children of a family who came to Iowa as refugees of the Bosnian war.

I met their parents when they came to our church for ESL classes, which my husband and I helped with. When Zlatka became pregnant, I accompanied her to prenatal visits before Adis was born, to help with language and also keep an eye on Dzenaela, who was little. (I also was with Zlatka when Adis was born, a first for me!)

After their third child Denis joined the family, Zlatka said that she needed something to keep her middle child busy. School had sent information about Cub Scouts. Adis asked if he could join. Well, I was once a Den Mother so I began taking him to den meetings in the school gym. Dzenaela came along to keep me company.

Because of their parents’ work schedules, I eventually became Dzenaela’s band and
drama grandma, taking her to practices, concerts, and plays.

Fibromyalgia settled in during these years, so these kids experienced some of my worst days. But all they needed was a willing grandma-aged woman with a car. That began maybe a decade of driving them to sports and band and school carnivals and summer classes and play practices. Each time I prayed that my driving was safe since I was chauffeuring someone else’s precious children.

Those upbeat kids helped me get through some painful and exhausting years, as I managed to encourage their extra curricular activities. Adis enjoying playing basketball, flag football, baseball, tackle football, and especially soccer.

After high school, Dzenaela became a chef, now living in Colorado, and a mommy to a darling little girl (Genesis, who turned two years old today).

And Adis, after attending junior college on a soccer scholarship, joined the Iowa Air Guard which paid for more college. He just graduated from the University of Iowa in December, and has applied for physical therapy school.

The stories about them in The Immigrant and the Outlaw are a couple of Thanksgiving feasts–one including Dzenaela’s first turkey, and how determined she was to have a traditional “American Thanksgiving,” even though her mother had to work at the hospital that day–and how I ended up involved in it. Adis’s is about the next Thanksgiving and he came over here to help me make side dishes, and a little mishap with the pumpkin pies.

The Immigrant and the Outlaw: A Collection of Stories from America’s Heartland will be released on Amazon.com May 13. The ebook is available for preorder now. 

A big thanks to those of you who also share any of these posts!