Thank you and Happy 245th Birthday, America!

Thank You, America!

by Alice Jane-Marie Massa

Thank you, America,

for welcoming to your eastern shore,

in the early 1900s,

four immigrants from Italy–

later to become

the parents of my parents

and good citizens of the adopted,

the chosen country–

America.

Thank you, Lady Liberty,

for holding high your torch

to light the way

to Ellis Island,

where my grandparents’ dreams

first met  land of the USA.

Thank you, Indiana,

for giving my paternal grandparents

some of your precious farmland–

a grape arbor, too.

Thank you, Indiana,

for allowing my maternal grandparents

to build a grocery store and Italian bakery

in your Vermillion County.

Thank you, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini,

for blessing these four immigrants

from Italy to Indiana,

with a safe voyage,

with seven sons

and five daughters,

with eighteen grandchildren–

all of whom went on to do well

in this new home of our immigrant forefathers.

From the banks of the Wabash

to the shores of Lake Michigan,

from the foothills of the Rockies to Disneyland,

from the shores of the Atlantic to the Pacific Northwest–

all the relatives

of those first four immigrants

of our family tree

wink at you, Lady Liberty,

and wave our thanks

in red, white, and blue wishes

for a Happy Fourth of July!

* * *

NOTE:  Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini is one of the patron saints of immigrants.

Best wishes to you and your family

for a safe, sunny, and very Happy Fourth of July!

Alice and Leader Dog Willow

June 30, 2021, Wednesday

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