Natālija Petrockis was born in Rīga, Latvia January 1, 1923, to Sofija and Alexanders Petrockis.  She married Jānis Zaļums in May 1941 and on January 22, 1944, gave birth in Rīga to her only child, Valda.  In the summer of 1944 when this book begins, Jānis had been conscripted into the German army and Soviet forces were advancing on Rīga.  Seeking safety, the Petrockis family vacated their Rīga home and Natālija, a mere 21 years of age, guided the family’s flight until 1950 and their arrival in Mississippi as laborers in cotton fields.

Valda Zaļums was six months old when the family fled Rīga.  She spent her early years in German labor camps and US Army refugee camps.  Valda’s formal education began in 1950 at the Lambert, MS elementary school.  The family relocated to Chicago in 1952 and her education continued through graduation in 1967 from the University of Illinois College of Pharmacy.