ABSTRACT
In attempting to pinpoint my own interest in co-editing, with Oliva Espin and Ellen Cole, a volume on refugee women's mental health, I was struck with the history of my own family of origin. My family has always moved, sometimes voluntarily, sometimes due to political circumstances, and this has influenced my life in multiple ways. As I summarize some relevant events, I recognize how much knowledge I have about male relatives in comparison to the very little I know about the women in my family, even those in my mother's family. Also, I am aware of the role that economic privilege has played in my family, even to the point of saving our lives. This is very different from most of the accounts in the chapters that follow.
