4. Explaining to his daughter why he had to
leave was difficult, made only slightly easier
by his hopeful promises that they would see
each other again some day.
5. The ship that took him across the sea was as
large as his fears that he may never see them
again.
6. The picture he brought of his beautiful family
was his only company, but served as a
constant reminder of the distance between
them.
7. When the ship arrived at port there was a
lot of excited shouting, but he could not
join in the fun. He could only think of
what he left on the other side of the sea.
9. When it was finally his turn, he couldn’t
understand what the man was saying. He
just repeated his name and where he was
from hoping that the message was clear.
10. The strange man must have understood as
he stamped an ID card with his face on it and
handed it down.
11. He walked out into the foreign streets
and knew he was a stranger in a
strange land.
12. He consulted his translation book trying to find
a place to stay. He finally made a connection
with a sign and began walking.
13. He met a lady who understood his
predicament much better than his native
tongue. She helped him greatly, giving him
what he thought was a good deal on a room.
14. She gave him the key and he walked upstairs
trying to follow her handwaving instructions
as best he could. He found a door with a
symbol that matched the one on his key and
went in.
15. What a strange place. Little looked familiar
and everything looked odd.
16. He unpacked, taking the picture of his family
out first. He stared at it wondering if he
would ever see them again.
17. He woke up slowly. Dreading the day to
come full of confusion and frustration. But
he had to push through. His family was
depending on him, no matter the distance.
18. He picked up what he thought was a lead
on a job. I wasn’t what he did back home
but it would have to do. Sacrifices had to
be made.
19. He arrived at the factory, and the foreman
seemed familiar with his situation. It took
them a while to communicate but from
what he could gather he started tomorrow
and the pay was decent.
22. It was difficult, but the money he sent back
to his family kept his spirits up from failing.
23. He hoped someday that they would
receive enough money to be able to
afford tickets on the boat. But he knew
how much those tickets cost when he
bought one, and the price was only
going up.
24. He received letters from home every
now and then. The postage wasn’t
cheap and he told his wife to not waste
too much money on these
communications.
25. But when he opened the letter he was
glad she sent it. It was that happiest he
had been in years. They were coming.
26. On the day they were scheduled to
arrive he ran around the platform where
newly cataloged immigrants came out.
27. He saw them. His wife looking around.
She seemed worried.
29. He yelled in their direction. Waving his
hand in the air frantically trying to
stand out from others who were doing
the same. They saw him and the
embrace that followed none of them
