I Write: Historical Figure

The third assignment in my Creativity for Writers class was to write about a Historical Figure. I spent a lot of time thinking about who that might be for me, and then I got the direction that it could be anyone. A relative, or whoever. And so inspiration hit me.   Keep in mind though that these particular assignments are only to be 250 words.

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They packed up the whole family - my grandmother, grandfather, and their five children. Everything that they were bringing fit into two moderately sized steamer trunks - wooden ones, with leather straps. Even the wooden shoes, packed in tidy rows. They were going to a better place, but it was a place where they didn’t speak the language. They didn’t know anyone there, except the sponsor who would give my grandfather a job when they arrived.

Dressed in their Sunday best they boarded the Beaverbrae, the boat that would take them to their new land. None of them had ever travelled this way before. None of them had ever travelled before. The boat was packed with others like them, all going to find new lives. Everyone in the family, except the youngest, was incredibly seasick. He carried oranges, tucked hidden in his pants, to the rest of his family. Despite hardship, they remained optimistic. It would get better.

When they landed at Pier 21, they had to wait in lines, to pass inspections, to board a train that would take them across provinces to what would become their new home.  Hours, no days, more travel before they would arrive at the place where they would raise their family. Where their children would learn English in school, and where they would learn it from their children.

My grandmother never spoke of the decision she and my grandfather made to move from the Netherlands. The life before wasn’t something she wanted to revisit. She was proud of her heritage but even prouder to have become Canadian.