Mother's Day Story

I was wondering if I could go back in time to 1933, what would I say to a 26 year old woman who was applying to be a citizen of the United States?

She would be scared.  After all, her mother told her stories of Lodz, the city where they immigrated from.  She would be born in Belgium but would huddle in steerage for three weeks while they crossed the North Atlantic to America. 

First of all I would tell her that while she is probably scared and excited, this is a great decision that she is making as it will change her life and many other people too. She cannot begin to imagine how this decision will set so many future events in motion.

She doesn’t realize it at this moment, but in 1940 she will be working in the biggest department store south of Atlanta, Georgia. It is here that a tall man will come up to her station in the cosmetic department and ask to walk her home. A cousin told him that there was a good looking single blond woman working at Cohen Brothers Department Store.

He will walk her home frequently but this is okay because she knows his family well. He is going to ask her to marry him and they will have two children, a girl and a boy. While she may not live to see them grow up and marry, they will.

Her son and daughter will also become educated, prosperous, and travel around the world. The girl and the boy will fly in an airplane to Europe, Asia, and see a man walk on the moon.

And they will have children. One of her grandchildren will be named for her, another for the man who asked to walk her home.

And eighty years later, one of her great grandchildren will return to Belgium

Go ahead and become a citizen and thank you.