My grandmother came to this country from Norway following her husband who saw a better life for his family in the United States. Settling in Chicago, she sorted fish at a fish market and raised three sons.
My mother's parents lived in Canada. After the death of my grandfather, grandmother Samson moved to Chicago where she raised my mother while working in a mental institution.
My parents met in my Grandmother's store. They married and my father left for Korea. I was born when he returned.
I can't help but think about the first settlers that come to America. They came for the same reason's my grandparents did, but with a fear hanging over them...the fear of their religious beliefs. What they believed, what group they associated themselves, determined who they followed and what became of them. Moving to America meant they might find freedom, their only thought that of hope they could not and would not be persecuted for their beliefs.
They came to America so they could practice their religious beliefs without being ridiculed, persecutied or condemned. Unfortunately, the reasoning for coming to America has changed. Survival. To survive genocide. To survived abject poverty. To remain free. These are hte reasons people in the 21st century come to America.
