When Madeline Uraneck said hello to the Tibetan woman cleaning her office cubicle, she never imagined the moment would change her life. After learning that Tenzin Kalsang had left her husband and four children behind in a Tibetan refugee settlement in India to try to forge a better life for them, Madeline took on the task of helping her apply for US visas. When the family reunited in their new Midwestern home, Madeline became swept up in their lives, from homework and soccer games to family dinners and shared holiday traditions. By reaching out, she found more than she bargained for a family who welcomed her as their own and taught her more than she offered them.

An evocative blend of immersion journalism and memoir, How to Make a Life shares the immigration story of a Tibetan refugee family who crossed real and cultural bridges to make a life in Madison, Wisconsin, with the assistance of the Midwestern woman they befriended. From tales of escaping Tibet over the Himalayas, to striking a balance between old traditions with new, to bridging divides one friendly gesture at a time, readers will expand their understanding of family, culture, and belonging.

How to Make a Life: A Tibetan Refugee Family and the Midwestern Woman They Adopted, Madeline Uraneck, Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2018, Paperback, 243 pp, $22.95

Madeline Uraneck is an educator and writer who has visited sixty-four countries through her role as International Education Consultant for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, several Peace Corps assignments, and her passion for world travel. Her writing has appeared in K12 curriculum materials, educational handbooks on culture and policy, and publications including WorldView Magazine, Hotline, Global Education, WorldWise Schools, and Isthmus, for which she received a Milwaukee Press Club award.

	Author's Note	ix
1	Stumbling into a Family	1
2	Tenzin's Story	7
3	Migmar's Story	24
4	Becoming Friends	38
5	Four Children	46
6	Becoming American	70
7	Tenzin's Brilliant Idea	85
8	Revelations in India	119
9	Back to Bylakuppe	132
10	Tangled Traditions	151
11	A Curriculum for Saving Tibet	166
12	Double Wedding	176
13	Search for the Middle Way	187
14	Lost Temples and Found Suitcases	204
15	The Family Next Door	224
	Tibetan Name Meanings	235
	Suggested Readings	239
	Acknowledgments	241