E Pluribus Unum

Carrying worn suitcases packed tightly with meager possessions, lofty dreams, bringing hearts filled with longings for the familiarity of homelands and family left behind, they came to America. Schowengerdt, Rabun, Mazzei, Erickson, Keeton and Rausch. RaGusa, Martin, Devries, Kaplan, Renfro, Czypryzs, Morrissey, Hartpence, Colbert, Collier, Roth, Proia and Ward. They came to America. Shining through immigrant tears, Lady Liberty’s freedom torch beaconed the way to portals of hope. Beyond ... the future’s golden glow beckoned the brave to create a new America molded out of the melting pot of diversity. They came to America. Standing hand in hand at Ellis’s shore, in reverent silence, hearts bursting with pride, a hundred mother tongues with single voice proclaimed in perfect harmony, “We are America!”