It was exactly 52 years ago on March 13, 1967 that I and my family landed from England at New York City Harbor. The trip on the luxury liner, the Queen Mary, had lasted longer than was scheduled due to stormy weather which blew the ship off course and we missed the tide causing it to dock 12 hours later than planned.
The trip had not been uneventful as the beautiful old ship was buffeted around with stormy weather and rough seas. Our family, well the female side of it, suffered from seasickness and spent quite a bit of time in the cabin and only made rare trips for food which was a pity for them as the spread put on for the diners was out of this world. My Stepson and I had no trouble and we more than made up for for ours and their share of the meals. It was interesting to be dining and the ship would lurch and we had to grab the stuff on the table to stop it from sliding off.
We had brought out little dog, a cocker spaniel named Melody along with us and she got to stay in her own little kennel on the top deck along with several other dogs all making the trip to the promised land. We would visit her several times a day just so that she wouldn’t think we had deserted her. America does not have any quarantine laws.
The first sign and the realization of what we were about to do really hit us as we pulled into New York Harbor and saw the Statue of Liberty in all of her Glory there to welcome us. Up to that point, it was just a fun trip, except for the seasickness of course, with no idea of what exactly we had committed ourselves to do.
When we finally pulled into Pier 22 in New York Harbor, and after collecting our dog, we had to wait on the Pier before we were allowed to meet up with my Mother, who we could see behind the barricade. She was with a friend from Fort Plain who she had persuaded to make the 200 mile trip from the little village in the Mohawk Valley. That and the fact the he had a station wagon which at the time, was the biggest car I had ever seen. In all of the hurly burly of landing, we knew we were in America as everyone had a strange American accent. More than anything, this really brought it home. We collected our luggage and the couple of trunks that we had brought with us, loaded everything onto the carrier on the roof of the car and proceeded to drive back to Fort Plain at night and in the snow passing and being passed by huge tractor trailers, some hauling double trailers and travelling at 70 plus mph. I had never seen anything so big on any road before in my life. As I was not driving, I didn’t have to worry about it.
That night, it snowed 13 inches of wet messy snow. I had never seen anything more than a couple of inches before and to see that amount all at one time just added to our mixed up thoughts of what we had let ourselves in for.
That was 52 years ago and a lot has happened since then. Many in my family from that time have passed on including my Mother and Stepfather, one of my Step Daughters and my Brother. My wife of that time that made the trip with me, recently passed on. Unfortunately, we were divorced 10 years after landing, another casualty of such a huge upheaval in our lives. She was so homesick for the old country and went back. The rest of the family is spread all the way from New York State to Florida and California.
Do I regret making that trip? In some ways I would have to say yes. From such a simple beginning living way out in the English countryside to the hustle and bustle of the American way of life is a huge change and hard to get used to, all of which added to the rigors of married life and keeping the family together. On the other hand, it is great to be a part of this huge technological period which we are going through and for all of its faults, America is a very forward thinking country with all manner of “stuff” available to just about anyone. I made a good living and was able to retire quite comfortably even if it is only me and 4 little dogs. Would I make the same decision if I had to do it over? I think not. I think I would have stayed and put up with the incessant rain and bloody cold weather and lived a quiet life out in the country living in the past and to hell with technology and modern living.
Oh yes, I have never been back not even for a vacation.
Written 3/8/2019
Maybe going back would be too painful.
Well, the change in the weather would be very painful but I would like to revisit my past.
A Trumpless land sounds tempting but maybe things will change for the better; right now, however, that doesn’t seem very likely.
Four more years of this guy and global warming may not be recoverable. Trouble is, going back to England even as an option is still on the same planet.
I wonder if most people realize the strength and courage that are required to pick up and leave one country to go to another. To make a decision to leave everything that you know to try a new place is so brave. I think of the desperation people coming from South America must feel and yet they do what they think is best for their families. Growing up and living in America, we take so much for granted. I can see that coming to the United States after growing up in the English countryside must’ve been such a shock, and longing for that simple life when you were a boy Is certainly understandable. We all long for a simpler time wherever it might be.
It was really the weather, the constant rain that was the final push. Weatherwise, I like it just fine here in Texas even with the 100 degrees in the summer. But, something is missing or maybe my aging brain believes that there is. Bit late in the game to be having second thoughts though. I’ll end my days here I guess…
“Strange American accent:” I just talked with a friend of mine from Germany for the first time, and the first thing she commented on was my voice. I need to spend lots of time away from the U.S. and come back, so that I can get a better sense of what we sound like. If course, you also landed in New York, which has a very particular accent.
I guess there are some decisions that there’s little point in regretting, because they can’t be undone. I could certainly see how the fast-paced, work-obsessed lifestyle in the US could strain a family.
Yes, here in America, there is a totally different way of and attitude towards life. A lot has to do with the day and age of our computerized living with every other persons face buried in their cell phone which has taken over many peoples lives especially in the younger generation. They do not understand that the world is passing them by. When they wake up, it will be too late. I agree that we can’t change the past and the decisions that we made but we can dream, can’t we?
Dreaming keeps us sane!
Interesting. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for commenting…
It was 47 yrs ago today that your brother Norman, his wife Teresa and their twins Pete and myself made the journey to America from England. I don’t remember much of the journey except it was night time when we arrived at grandma and grandpa Hermie’s house in Fort Plain.
I remember you arriving although I didn’t get to see you until the next day. Funny, we arrived at night too. Did you retain you British citizenship. For work purposes, I took American citizenship.
Yes, I have dual citizenship. I know mum told us about our arrival, but I don’t remember. I’ll have to ask her again. She speaks so highly of you.
How did you do that. I had to give up the British Citizenship when I took the American one. They said I couldn’t hold duo citizenship.
I don’t know actually…I think mum and dad kept theirs as well. Hmmm…I’ll ask mum.
Mum said she doesn’t know if dad was allowed to keep his British citizenship. He never went back to England either. Pete had a British passport. I googled this and found one possible explanation:
“Additionally, young children who naturalize in the United States along with their parents didn’t take the Oath of Allegiance — even though their parents did — and can technically still hold on to their previous citizenship.”
Such an interesting read! I just moved to Denver, Colorado from Belgium…. what a difference in life! I’ll be blogging about my new life… it would be nice to have some kind of diary for my kids someday.
I write about my memories as I seem to do a better job of remembering things from long ago rather than what I ate for breakfast! Good luck with your blogging.
Haha I have the opposite 😊
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