Coming to America and becoming an American
My family escaped the country of my birth to save our lives. A country where my Father and Mother from entirely different backgrounds first met and married. Building and growing their lives and our family of three children, two brothers and a sister. Politics and power as always don't always mesh with your families dreams and goals. So my father and mother gave up everything they knew to try again in the USA. In my opinion the best decision they ever made!
My father, an aircraft engineer and mechanic cajoled and bribed his wife (with jewelry and promises) and announced to his family that we we're moving to the USA! This time, rather than flying (as we did whenever we traveled), my father decided we should go by boat. And that was what we did from Rotterdam, Netherlands to the gateway of New York harbor.
I remember very distinctly as if it was yesterday seeing the vast waters of New York and its harbor anchored by the most beautiful sight in the world, the most famous and iconic Statue of Liberty! Feeling goosebumps and the excitement of starting a new life for our family.
My Dad, wanting to experience the move and savor the trip of a lifetime decided then to take the train from NY to Miami, FL. I remember asking my father as my brother and I looked out of the trains window : Poppy! where are the cowboys and Indians? Not realizing that Hollywood's version as depicted in European movie theaters No longer exists.
Fast forward from an 11 year old boy to a now almost 72 year old man. Due to the best decision my parents ever made and Having lived the American dream, that most people in the world can only dream about.
Traveling all over this country, hiking, bicycling, motorcycling, boating, camping, glamping, jeeping, soaring over and through virtually most of this country's amazing and awesome National Parks, Monuments and waterways. Probably the most memorable visions in all these places are the actual sightings, however fleeting at times of all the wild life I have seen. Including the sea life from the Pacific shores of Catalina Island to the underwater John Pennekamp National Park off Key Largo, FL
If I had to pick just one photo shot of probably thousands? It would be of a mother grizzly bear and three of her cubs at Yellow Stone National Park. A photo attached. Of course, the American alligators from the Everglades and FLorida beaches are also forever memories found in these The United States of America.