#165 - TM

I took French as a foreign language in high school...that is not to say that I speak French.  Jeff did better than I did, taking Spanish in high school and several semesters in college, but I don't think he would consider himself fluent.  #165 is a girl who moved with her parents and her younger brother from Russia to Louisiana when she was less than ten years old.  Her parents spoke very little to no English.  She was very often the translator.  I don't think she knew any English when she arrived, but started to learn as soon as she started school here and picked it up in no time.  I wonder if my children would have as easy a time if we moved to Russia? 

That little girl of ten is now a married twenty-something woman.  She is a wonderful and beautiful person inside and out.  Her dad worked for my father in law and then later for my husband, and my dad for a while.  Her mom helped us with the kids after school.  Just recently, her mom and dad moved from Louisiana to Texas.  #165 lived in California for awhile, but now lives somewhere in the Northeast (I think) with her new husband as he completes his medical residency.  I am proud of all that she has accomplished and what a wonderful person she has become.  She is a wonderful daughter who takes care of her parents.  She learned this as a small child and continues this as an adult.  She is always extra sweet to my kids and makes it a point to always come to visit when she is in town.

My thoughts keep returning to her moving here when she was about the same age as Zack is now.  Leaving all of her friends as well as all her country's customs and traditions.  She and her brother took to America like a duck takes to water, but I know they had to miss all that they left behind.  The reason that they moved here is because the area that they lived in became unsafe.  It was and still is common for Catholics to be persecuted there.  They escaped for religious freedom and for a better way of life for their kids.  It sounds like an answer on Zachary's social studies test, but it is a very common reason why foreigners seek the freedom America offers. 

I am glad that I know #165 and her family.  I am especially glad that my children were able to meet and love them also.  It is good for them to meet people who have different backgrounds than us.  They are so spoiled that it is good for them to see that not everyone in the world has basic rights.  Not everyone is as privledged as we are.  We should always be proud of our country and be thankful that we live in a place where we are free.