Just before the turn of the nineteenth century my grandfather Carl Nim was traveling across the Atlantic Ocean with a sense of excitement in his heart. Only his journey wasn’t made on a travel ship. He was a young sailor on a merchant ship bound from Denmark to the USA.
He was thirteen, and must have been at least a little frightened given his plans.
When he hit New York harbor he completed his chores and went on leave, slipping easily into the slums and back streets of the late 1890’s New York. He never returned to the ship. He hid inside the busyness of that other turn of the century world for many years before emerging as a young man fit for my genteel grandmother Ivy. I have letters that attest to her love for him.
All of our ancestors made their way to these beautiful lands in a manner similar to my grandfather Carl, whether you know about their trip or not.
I know this country is in trouble because of the influx of people across our southern borders, but my hope for this 4th of July is that we can gentle our reactions to this growing change. There are no walls that can’t be broken down or slipped around, over or under. And as world populations continue to expand without restraint more and more desperate people will turn to a rich and largely vacant America for hope.
We must find acceptable solutions for this truth.
Another thought: I realize now that my personal memory reaches into three different centuries, made possible because of the plenty of our country and modern medicine. Isn’t America wonderful? Shouldn’t we therefore all celebrate it?
And may I finally recommend the Daughters of the American Revolution as an excellent place to begin a search for your heritage.
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