ANCESTRAL GRIEF – Following in my Great Grandfathers footsteps
For the last 3 months I’ve been in my ancestral homeland – Moldova. My people haven’t been here in 100 years, not since my GG Grandfather & GG Grandmother sent their 4 sons, 1-by-1, to America. The boys never saw their mother or father alive again.
What was it like for my G Grandfather Yosif, a 21 year old boy shipped off to America in 1912?
Headed to a new country, leaving behind every childhood friend and place he’d ever known. To say goodbye and end up in a place where he did not speak the language.
To travel by train and ship for 1 month. To pass by the Statue of Liberty in New York & then by train to Chicago. To live with distant relatives and a “chance at a better life.”
He was the youngest. His 3 brothers had gone before him and were scattered across America.
Did it break his heart?
I sit here in Moldova, the time running out on my visa. I have to leave.
In this country I feel a sense of home that I haven’t felt for decades. I’ve made friends who I see every day. Whether beer, wine, wings or laughter.
I desperately want to stay, but there are no options and I must leave.
And it hurts my heart.
Am I re-living Yosif’s footsteps, feeling his pain – Honoring him?
Do I love my lineage and my Great Grandfather this much.
Maybe.
It seems that maybe I’m walking his path. But it seems trite to compare my pain with his. What it must have been like for this young boy, shipped off to never see his homeland or family again. All because many here hated the Jews.
In 2 days I’ll be on a bus to Romania, fortunately I can return in 90 days, and I will. My Great Grandfather Yosif did not have this choice.
For now I am feeling a pain of leaving and honoring the grief.
Jack
If this touches anything for you, please leave your thoughts below. Let’s start a conversation on Ancestral Immigration Trauma & Healing
