When I become immersed in my family’s genealogy, I always feel a sorrow for my relatives…the ones who came to America…with a new dream, an escape or a wanderlust.  I wonder when the Swickards boarded the ship in Amsterdam if they had any idea that they would be geographically separated for the rest of their lives…. Never to see each other again.  Maybe this was inconsequential to them.  Perhaps families back then just did what they needed/wanted to do to make their lives better and missing family didn’t even enter into the equation?  What is the difference in the cultures who stay together in the same place, the same house, take care of their elders and grow old together compared to those who follow their dreams and move away from family where ever that may lead?

We all make our choices….or is it a choice?

My friend  Mary Beth got on my hamster wheel this morning on FB with comments about the fear and pain the Syrian refugees are feeling being driven from their Homeland….they really have no options…many have relatives here in the United States….how can we as a country refuse their entry?    I understand…I agree.  But, I am also emotionally overwhelmed with the idea that many of these refugees will be separated from their families depending on where the government allows placement.   I’m totally overwhelmed with the idea that everything they have ever known is washed away….gone…their history, their culture, their families.  Separated.  Mary Beth answered my question with the reality that Europe is saturated with refugees right now.  I take it a step further….would their lives be better with less opportunities and not be separated from families or is America with dreams and opportunities the choice they would make….even if it means separating from family?

until next time….