Last week my son Ben and his third grade class went to Ellis Island. It was his first trip there. I wish I was with him. There's so much we could have talked about before the ferry arrived on the other side.
He saw a movie about the immigrant experience and found the name of his maternal Italian great grandmother. I'm pretty sure my Irish great grandfather is listed there as well. You can also find his name in the index of Gangs of New York...a dubious achievement that explains a lot about my family's character.
Ben's gene pool combines almost every country in Europe with a stop in the Ukraine and Cypress. He is a true American mutt and I must say that the results are extraordinary.
Ben complained that on the ferry ride home his class was not allowed to sit up on the top deck with the rowdy public school kids. He was furious and said "Mom, it was hot and smelly down in the lower deck. All because we went to Ellis Island doesn't mean they have to send us back to Manhattan in steerage class!"
6 comments:
I'd totally love to babysit your kid. He sounds so cool.
Ben sounds like a lot of fun to have around. Must be the genes.
Kranki - you and Ben would TOTALLY hit it off. If he was older, I'd be arranging your marriage.
Flori - Ben is a smart kid. It must be the genes - god knows they skipped a generation when they hit me.
Your son seems to have also inhereited your fabulous sense of humor.
This week, when Corey Lidle's plane hit the condo building in Manhattan I thought of you.
I heard the description of his plane circling the Statue of Liberty. I wished I could see NYC again. Someday, I hope, including Ellis Island.
Hh
Thank you for mentioning that horrible accident. I was sitting in a pizza parlor with my son when the burning building flashed across the tv screen.
Everyone started gathering around the tv and no one spoke.
It was very scary for the first two hours - because you can't help but think - here we go again. Of course all of our out of state relatives called to see if we were all right - of course they meant emotionally all right.
What amazes me is that people were allowed to go back to their apartments that night!
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