As I type this I am sitting in my not too modest stateroom aboard a Holland America cruise ship sailing along the coast of Alaska. Last night while sitting in the very posh dining room, eating my filet mignon dinner, I found myself thinking about the first and only sea voyage any of my four grandparents experienced. Around the turn of the 20th century, each of them came to the U.S. in steerage class, crowded aboard ships that cannot even be remotely compared to what I am on right now. I've already outlived all of my grandparents in terms of the age at which they died, and I am quite sure that even in their most optimistic imaginations they could not have conceived of the relative luxury with which I am experiencing right now. None of those grandparents had much education, and none achieved more than a poverty level of life, but their children, my parents, did much better. And my generation has lived the American dream. My life is a tribute to this amazing nation and what it offers. And for what it might be worth, several of my grown children have achieved more than what I have achieved, continuing the greatness that is America. I'm not sure that my grandchildren, and those that come later from my DNA will keep advancing, but what has already been achieved is pretty damn remarkable in my opinion. God Bless America!
Reflecting on Life
- Thread starter vito
- Start date
stonebuster
Blackhawk
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2017
- Messages
- 649
Great post. My great, great grandfather sailed from Hamburg, Germany in 1854 to New York. I've got his US citizenship document from when he became a citizen and changed his first name to Andrew and his first name became our family's last name. I've got his discharge papers from the German navy too. My father's family saved everything it seems when it comes to family history(on my father's side)Also have original letters from his relatives in Germany with English translations attached done by my grandfather giving me a glimpse into the past from reading them. They were pioneers traveling to the new world to make a better life. God bless them!
We do have much to be grateful for in life. When vito makes a reflective post like this it always makes me think. I believe that he and Bob Wright are a couple of the most inspiring people on here and I enjoy reading their posts.
Hertervillian
Saluki
I’d say your success was a large part of their dream. I know I’ve worked hard in the belief that I could get my kids a leg up on the world. The success they achieve brings me a sense of joy that my own successes haven’t matched.
Can't complain, but sometimes I still do. Life's been good to me so far.....
Every American should be made to life in a true third world country for a year.
My ancestrrs came to the 13 Colonies, decades before the Revolution, from Ireland. Settled in the swamps of South Carolina. Made lots of corn/ rye whiskey.
I hope it’s an enjoyable experience for you and your family.
We cruise a lot. And our cabins, regardless of status, are the Ritz. I cannot imagine my family enjoyed any part of their cruises to the New World.
Our family movements from Europe, Asia, wherever, are mostly not traceable. And a hundred+ years later, we don't even know if we are spelling our names correctly.
Ellis Island did us no favors.
Our family movements from Europe, Asia, wherever, are mostly not traceable. And a hundred+ years later, we don't even know if we are spelling our names correctly.
Ellis Island did us no favors.
I see what you did there.
ex13F
Single-Sixer
All my ancestors arrived on these shores prior to the American Revolution and the majority of them were the original III%ers. I am sometimes quite disappointed in the societal decline of our nation but still I wouldn't live anywhere else. God Bless America.
I have no desire to go to California for any reason, thank you.
GypsmJim
GypsmJim
Steerage and emigration runs in my family as well.
My Great Grandfather was a stone mason. He and his brother, the 2 wives and a total of 11 children came over in 1894. My Grandpa was the first American born.
My other Grandparents came over in 1925.
Grandma's brother (known just as "Uncle") came over in 1926. He was also a stone mason. In fact his last job in Germany was helping build a BMW plant. Half way across the Atlantic the boiler on his ship blew up and they drifted for days. I don't know how they got the ship going, but they DID make it to NYC.
Uncle would never go in a boat after that. Interestingly enough, though, in the US he went to night school and became a Stationary Engineer. He ran a boiler until he retired.
My Great Grandfather was a stone mason. He and his brother, the 2 wives and a total of 11 children came over in 1894. My Grandpa was the first American born.
My other Grandparents came over in 1925.
Grandma's brother (known just as "Uncle") came over in 1926. He was also a stone mason. In fact his last job in Germany was helping build a BMW plant. Half way across the Atlantic the boiler on his ship blew up and they drifted for days. I don't know how they got the ship going, but they DID make it to NYC.
Uncle would never go in a boat after that. Interestingly enough, though, in the US he went to night school and became a Stationary Engineer. He ran a boiler until he retired.
Yea great post life been good to me so far let’s keep it up more and more of it life yes
Looking back life is shorter than we think. My advise is knockout the bucket list before it's too late.
Bob Wright
Hawkeye
I've been on two cruises: one took me to Korea, the other brought me back to the US a year later.
Bob Wright
Bob Wright
Bob Wright
Hawkeye
As to ancestors, mine came to this country very early, late 1700s, from England. Around 1824 Hollis Wright settled in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, "coming from Virginia."
Bob Wright
Bob Wright
^^^Hard to really understand for me, my families have only been here for two generations on one side, and three or maybe 2.5 on the other. I have the utmost respect and honor for those families that can trace their citizenship back that far. We haven't been here that long, but do have a history of military service and feel like we belong.
protoolman
Service-Sixer
My ancestors farmed 80 acres they had to clear of trees with horses and 2 man saws. I've had it considerably easier. To quote a famous moonshiner, Popcorn Sutton, " If I had it to do all over again, damned if I wouldn't do it bigger and better !" No regrets!
Bob Wright
Hawkeye
Ancdstory is merely a matter of interest. It's what you make of yourself that counts.
Bob Wright
Bob Wright
^^^Truer words have not been spoke. (I know I've broken most rules of English, it was on purpose).
Many years ago my wife and I were vacating in Mexico and decided we wanted to see Chichen Iza. We boarded a bus and drove through villages with homes that horses wouldn't be kept in in the USA. Filth, trash, dirt, and a zillion little dirty kids. It makes one truly appreciate how lucky most of us really are.
In the early 1800's 2 members of my family on my dad's side carried a swarm of honeybees wrapped in a sheet and suspended on a pole between them for over 50 miles to pollinate their newly planted orchard.
Dad's family came from Bavaria in the 1740's and settled in Pennsylvania. The family always said that we were Dutch but we traced the family to Germany. They farmed but always had other businesses like a cooper shop making both slack and tight cooperage. Slack for apples, flour and salt while the tight was for cider, vinegar and whiskey. There was also a blacksmith and machine shop but there was an uncle who sold the machinery for scrap in the 1950s.
My mother's side came from Sicily in the early 1900's with my great grandfather working on the railroad as a Gandy Dancer for a couple of years before he could afford to bring my great grandmother over. He worked for almost 40 years on the railroad and was very proud to be an American.
We all have much to be thankful for and should know what our forebears did to give us the lives that we have.
Unfortunately my family line ends with me because my only child died at 19. Life does go on though and I am making the best of it.
Dad's family came from Bavaria in the 1740's and settled in Pennsylvania. The family always said that we were Dutch but we traced the family to Germany. They farmed but always had other businesses like a cooper shop making both slack and tight cooperage. Slack for apples, flour and salt while the tight was for cider, vinegar and whiskey. There was also a blacksmith and machine shop but there was an uncle who sold the machinery for scrap in the 1950s.
My mother's side came from Sicily in the early 1900's with my great grandfather working on the railroad as a Gandy Dancer for a couple of years before he could afford to bring my great grandmother over. He worked for almost 40 years on the railroad and was very proud to be an American.
We all have much to be thankful for and should know what our forebears did to give us the lives that we have.
Unfortunately my family line ends with me because my only child died at 19. Life does go on though and I am making the best of it.
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old breed
Single-Sixer
as far as who got here first, stephen hopkins ,jamestown 1611, again mayflower 1619. it . really doesnt matter. whenever they came, hope brought them. they assimilated for the most part. they believed in life, liberty and a pursuit of happiness. they worked hard and were thankful.God was important. tyranny was despised. they cherished freedom more than life. in a free country we are able to advance from poor and illiterate to prosperity and higher education. harvard, columbia and a host of other institutes of " higher" education have become racist antisemitic, intolerant indoctrination cesspools ruled by tenured elites suckling ungrateful brats. we have left our first love ,our hope,our work ethic,our families, our sexual identity . maybe our soul May God help us with a little help from trump.
old breed
Single-Sixer
yep, 3 caribbean ,1 norway cold weather training, 1 maine cold weather training with air conditioning, all free with the Navy cruise lines. they even threw in free life insurance. hard to beat a deal like that
WV460hunter
Blackhawk
As to Ancestors : My Ancestor John Herrod came here sometime around 1776 and was an 18yr old boy Sold by Upper Prussia to the English Government to fight for the British . He was what you hear called a Hessian. He was captured placed in a prison across the Ohio River . At the wars end The prisoners were given the option be deported back to your country of origin or become an American. He chose to become and American married an English lady Mary Swift and settled in Greene County,PA his gravestone is there still.Several generations down the line one of my grandfather's had 5 Sons . 1 got mad at the rest and bought a 100Acre tract of land with his Dad's help.
He had a huge family boys and girls one of which was my great grandfather. The property 100acres was constantly passed down to relatives and is now in the hands of a female relative in Texas.(lol) who seems to hate everyone won't even return a phone call. And as weird as this is I live 15miles now from the original piece of WV land that was originally part of another state when purchased .
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Reading this thread got me to pull out the old boxes of ancestry that my father researched. He's long gone now, and the organization was near impossible to follow. He found ancestors in England back to the 1400's, and then a birth record in the states in the early 1600's. From there- lawmen, clergy, ect. At one point two sisters went "Out West" with Joseph Smith. One stayed in Utah, and there are a couple relatives that were Mormon Church leaders. The other sister continued on to California, and from her line my father was born.
My Grandmother emigrated with my Grandfather and my Mother from Germany, prior to WWII. My Grandfather passed away shortly after- from deterioration caused by mustard gas. He was a German soldier in WWI.
Dad was a test pilot in WWII, trained to take a B25 off a carrier in case there ever was a 2nd Doolittle type raid. He used to joke that if he crashed one more plane he would be a Japanese Ace. After the war, he was hired by a title company and worked his way up to VP of Safeco Title.
My Mom was a secretary at a title company when she met my Dad. They married, years later had a kid (me) and said one was enough.
I gave all the ancestry files to our Son. Maybe he can make sense of them some day.
All things considered, God has blessed me with a great life. Married at 19, wife was 16. After starting out as pre-med, I fell into the automotive industry and never got out. My wife has been a model, interior designer, ran a coffee house in UT, and has been the office manager at a PT clinic for the last 20 years. We’re both looking forward to whatever God has planned for us in the future.
My Grandmother emigrated with my Grandfather and my Mother from Germany, prior to WWII. My Grandfather passed away shortly after- from deterioration caused by mustard gas. He was a German soldier in WWI.
Dad was a test pilot in WWII, trained to take a B25 off a carrier in case there ever was a 2nd Doolittle type raid. He used to joke that if he crashed one more plane he would be a Japanese Ace. After the war, he was hired by a title company and worked his way up to VP of Safeco Title.
My Mom was a secretary at a title company when she met my Dad. They married, years later had a kid (me) and said one was enough.
I gave all the ancestry files to our Son. Maybe he can make sense of them some day.
All things considered, God has blessed me with a great life. Married at 19, wife was 16. After starting out as pre-med, I fell into the automotive industry and never got out. My wife has been a model, interior designer, ran a coffee house in UT, and has been the office manager at a PT clinic for the last 20 years. We’re both looking forward to whatever God has planned for us in the future.
old breed
Single-Sixer
indeed , i learned more about appreciation for this country by spending 2 yrs. in the marines. starting out as maggot puke wasnt as eye opening as some of the places we visited ,like haiti. i learned more about myself and life than the 8 years i spent in college. you really don't appreciate freedom unless you've been denied it. by living in a tyrant ruled country or under the restraint of the UCMJ. adversity does round out the soul.
Both my parents were Bohemian. My mom came here around 1900 and my dad was born here in the states. He was not drafted into the war as he was exempt being a baker. All food preparers were exempt; somebody had to feed the public. As such we always had bakery during the war and other people didn't, except the nuns at the catholic elementary school that I went to. All the extra bakery that my family didn't eat I took to the nunnery. The nuns would waite at the door for me to bring them some bread and pastery. What a life back then!
