Dependent

Jul 4, 2009 by Naomi.

Without my computer I wouldn’t know what day it is. I got up this morning planning to watch Good Morning America, the early Sunday show with interesting features hosted by Charles Asgood. Well what come on was a special from Ellis Island with the Secretary of the Interior talking about the new access for visitors to the crown of the statue of liberty. Well OK. I’ve seen the statue from Manhattan Island, never making the opportunity to get into the icon. Essays were read by contest winners about what the statue meant to their ancestors. What about my ancestors? The Hortons left England in 1492. That part of my heritage along with Chapmans on my mother’s side have yet to be researched.

Regarding heritage on my father’s side, Michael A. Hodak recalled illegally entering the promised land where streets were paved with gold, therefore, he was not brought into America through Ellis Island. According to the 1910 census, he was in Newark, New Jersey, not far from the New York harbor. The transport ship he arrived on brought workers for smelting and refining. Such ships were responsible for a massive emigration from eastern Europe in the early 1900s. He had no recollection of seeing the statue. However as a young man escaping conscription he knew land ownership was possible in this new land, and a statue may not have made an impression, no matter how large it loomed on his horizon.

History was brought back to memory on the television and I was pleased to watch the audience milling around the base of the honored Lady. But, I thought, this is Sunday, July fifth, why all this fuss about a past holiday? Better check that out. Sure enough this is July fourth, Saturday, after all. My goodness I have an extra day in my weekend! Could I have discovered that without my trusty computer?

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