American Girl, European Roots

My family has come to America at different stages of the country's development. Some of the earliest colonizers were my ancestors, then, the Swedish and Norwegian side came in the 1800s, and the Slovakian grandparents, 1919 through Ellis Island. I was raised with Slovakian and English spoken around me, and Russian as the language in our small Orthodox church, until I was 12. We always celebrated Christmas on January 7th, and our Easter was called Pascha. Yes, I was different from your "typical" American Girl of the 1970s and 1980s. I even skipped my Senior Prom in order to attend our Pascha services. I was not told to, I did it by choice, as that is what I felt to be right.

Now, we are having another election. Today I cast my ballot, and no matter who wins in the election, I am hoping for the best outcome. My ancestors came here to pursue a better life for themselves and future generations, and I am thankful to them for that. However, I look at the rest of the world now, and almost mourn for what I feel we are losing in America; a culture of community, not selfish commercialism. Selling products and gaining a good income from honest work and integrity I totally embrace. Still, some of what I am seeing now makes my blood go cold. In my opinion, America is made great when we come together and work as a unit, not when we are divisive and conquer ourselves with infighting and quarrelsome behavior. I look forward to the elections ending so we can settle back down to business and figure out a solid path to our future. I am an American Girl, George's Daughter, and mother to a future generation. We will make it work, by doing what we know is right, not convenient.