Miscellaneous Forum

I am trying (not successfully) to think of a hard hitting quote or sentence to finish an essay I am writing. Normally I am ok with opening paragraphs and conclusions but not this time. Subject is the feelings that people have after being uprooted from their countries due to immigration or exile.....Any ideas before I tear my hair out and go bald would be most welcome. (by the way it is being written in Spanish but I can translate it)

Life is what it is. We can cry about what we have lost or move forward and live.

I can empathize with you.
It took me a long time of writing and re-writing of my home page here on VT to put down into words what our family went through in the 60's when we left Cuba.
I had the good fortune of being able to also get some of my mom and dad's take on the matter for accuracy.
I'm not a writer but am proud of my home page.

.,,they hope to go back to their countries one day...

I hope this sentence doesn't seem too silly Natalie.

Ciao!

>Life is what it is. We can cry about what we have lost or move forward and live.<

Life just isn't that simple LeeAnn, not in many situations as we are presented with them.
For younger, such as myself and brother, yes, we were able to move on but for much older, such as my parents who lost all they had, gave up family and friends and life long attachments they never gave up that occasional pain or yearning to be reunited.

Yes, living *is* the only option I suppose but moving forward isn't always easy.

Same applies to people who suddenly and unexpectedly lose a loved one, especially a child...

......as he sat on the edge of the water, thoughts of how he got here running through his mind, - he smiled as he thought of his mother's favorite song she would hum in the kitchen, while singing under her breath......"Birds flying high, sun in the sky, breeze driftin' by, it's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life, - for me."

(Words a bit changed around, from "Feeling Good" by Nina Simone.....)


....and yes Homer, you should indeed be proud of that Home Page.....d:o)

There's a book called "Altogether Elsewhere: Writers on Exile" that's full of good stuff if you have time to track it down. Also, immigration and exile are two different things. Immigration is usually to some degree voluntary, and you can usually return if you want to; exile is usually forced, and you can't return until something in the home country changes, if ever. What's the tone/general take of your essay?

(Meant to add that immigration is usually about moving towards a better future, and exile is more about mourning for a better past or wishing for a better present, but the post got away from me!)

Homer, I did not mean for it to sound easy.

Hi Natalie,

I spent some time in Espasante in May, and met a lady who introduced me to Rosalia Castro. I think this is what you're looking for:

http://www.rosalia--de--castro.webs.com/#Poem4

This version is in Galego and English - somewhere in the web there is a Spanish translation. I was in tears when the lady first showed to me, and am in tears now. Very compelling - poem at the end, story preceding. I'll post back if I find the Spanish, but Galego sounds very similar.

Hugs,
Martha

Martha so nice to see you !!! Long time.
LeeAnn, I know that. I was just reiterating that sometimes people dismiss the immigration choice as "move on".
It is a grieving process which one, that hasn't gone through it or been affected by it doesn't understand, no more than I could ever imagine losing a child.

After being uprooted from the country we are original from to live in a foreign land, it's tough and vulnerable! Like the children were being separated with their parents to send away to an unknown destiny. Seeing The fear and tears in the children's eyes, the heart-broken feeling on the parents's faces; seeing their hands tried to stretch to reach and hold each other were being pulled apart, nothing is more painful than that. Please wait for me till I come back like a bird!

"Thus I entered, and thus I go!
In triumphs, people have dropped down dead.
``Paid by the world, what dost thou owe
``Me?''---God might question; now instead,
'Tis God shall repay: I am safer so."

Robert Browning, 'The Patriot'

Thank you all so much for your comments. I will certainly be able to use some of these words in my essay. It's my final paper for my final year of Spanish, studying Modern languages. It has been an amazing 3 years and I have found a whole new world through studying even at my age! The culture of the Spanish people has intrigued me so much and I need to go to Central/South America to feel it for myself. I will start my 3 years of French in February......

Hi Natalie,

I've known quite a few people who have had this experience. Some were forced from their country and some chose to leave.

The overwhelming reality I've been impacted by is how deeply heart-wrenching the experience can be for them. Everywhere they go they see things that remind them of their homeland and it seems every persective they have is connected in some way to that sense of lose.

Actually, very few of those who chose to leave their country are completely free from the sense of lose, but those forced to leave seem never able to quite let the old country go, even after years of acclimating and adjusting.

That's not actually a bad thing, except that what comes along with it for them is sorrow.

Thank you Linda. What you say is very true. The essay has proved very difficult because of the subject matter but it is nearing the end and I am pleased with what I have written (in between the tears I have shed for the Basque children of 1937) Very moving stories .....