"America is my home."

My great aunt told me today that when my Great Grandma Anne came over to America on the ship from Norway, the passengers were so happy when they saw the Statue of Liberty because they knew they were in America.  What joy and excitement the immigrants must have felt as they came in through Ellis Island.  What a time of optimism!  Those who came into this country from Norway came because they had no way to make a living for themselves in Norway.  It was becoming more and more difficult for the farms of Norway to support an ever-expanding population and the promise of opportunity & prosperity in America drew people.  My great grandma gladly accepted work as a maid/farm hand in rural Minnesota when she first arrived, later settling in North Dakota.  She had 2 brothers here already and one of them sent a postcard to their father, back in Norway, simply stating, "Anne made it safely to America."  I remember reading in The Emigrants by Vilhelm Moberg about a father watching his son leave with his family and saying to his wife, "I must go outside and behold my son's funeral procession."  As so it was for many of those left behind, knowing they would never see their loved ones on this earth again.

Sixty years after my great grandma came to America, she returned to Norway for a visit.  Her sister, Karen, said to her, "You must stay now, Annie."  My grandma replied, "No, America is my home."

Isn't this how those who migrate here legally feel?  Americans warmly embrace those who come here legally, thereby showing respect for our laws, which by default is an expression of respect for our nation.  As I heard someone say, what makes us all Americans is that we agree to live under the same constitution.  We have a common understanding of what America is.  I heard Columbian immigrant, Tito Munoz say on 9-12-10, while addressing the second march on the capitol, "I was born in Columbia, but I was made in the U.S.A.!"  That crowd LOVED Tito Munoz.   Tito in 2009, and Great Grandma Anne in 1910, both wanted the same thing: freedom and opportunity.  America gladly delivers.  What a thing of beauty.