> I felt a surprising twinge in my heart, as though
> I were losing something very dear all over again.
> There was something else I needed to say, something important about the
> complexities of culture and allegiance and patriotism and ancestry,
I've been listening to Churchill's History of the English-Speaking
Peoples as I make my 25-30 minute commutes. Just listening to a British
view of our Independence and Civil Wars, I can't help think that much
has been lost. And England, where I'm from a few short centuries back,
holds an intense fascination for me, but with a twinge of utter
separation.
> We are all too busy here, and family gatherings have
> to be carefully orchestrated.
They're not even what you'd call easy when it's only 1700 miles.
> And yet ... Will my children ever fit into
> this country in the way a person of European background can?
Certainly. They can be just as isolated and lonely as the rest of us!
Seriously, though, this place isn't a heaven of close relationships.
But you already knew that, or you wouldn't be reading this. ;-)
> Even though they were born in America no less than Bruce Springsteen,
> many people will look at them and always see foreigners.
Sigh. (And I don't even like Springsteen's music.)
> Call me parochial
Okay, you're a parochial, world traveling, bit sponge of widely ranging
cultural background and tastes. Does that help?
Cheers,
Wayne