“Everybody look, I see land! We made it to America!!!” my brother shouted and
everyone on deck cheered. There wasn’t a person on the boat who wasn’t excited
to see U.S. soil. At least there
wasn’t until the boat veered a little to the right and started to head in the
direction of a small island just before America. The cheering turned into
“Hey, I thought we were going to America,” and, “I paid for a trip
to America, not to the closest land
next to it.” Now there wasn’t a person on the boat who wasn’t angry.
“Passengers, may I have your
attention please,” the intercom burst out, “You will be taken to America, but according to
regulation you must stop at Ellis Island first. At Ellis Island you will be checked for
any diseases that could harm the citizens of America and then registered before
actually stepping foot in New York. Prepare to dock.” After
the announcement people were able to calm down. They felt better now that they
knew the captain wasn’t cheating them out of America. I however, still felt a
little uneasy. What would happen if I had contracted a disease on the boat ride
and everyone went on to America but me? I shook the notion
out of my mind and scurried to pack up my luggage.
Within an hour we were lined up
single file along the deck of the boat, clutching our luggage in our arms. “In
all my days…” my mother said as the gangplank was lowered and we were able to
see the hundreds of people in line before us. “How are we supposed to go to America with all those people in
line before us,” I thought as we began the descent to Ellis Island. A dozen men stood there
waiting and when we stepped off the gangplank we were hurried over to line K.
There we were told to stand and wait to be examined.
And so we stood, and stood, and
stood. The line must have moved an inch every ten minutes. Finally, as the sun
was about to slip behind the horizon my mom, my brother, and I were shoved into
the exam room. Inside there was a man holding a clipboard. He looked up and
began to ask us questions like what our names were, if we had ever contracted
smallpox, why we were here in America, ect. When he had asked
all of his questions he took us one by one behind curtain. My mother went first
followed by my brother. I went last. Slowly I crept behind the curtain. The man
was waiting and when I came around he began to poke and prod me. I guess he was
searching for any signs of disease.
Once we had all gone behind the
curtain, the man gave my mother three pieces of paper and pointed to where he
wanted us to go next. “When will this be over?” I whined, but inside I was just
happy that I had made it through the examination. Another line waited for us at
the location the man had pointed to. “Just one more line and we’ll be heading
into New York to find your father,” my
mother replied as we entered the line. Thankfully, this line moved much faster.
We were at the front of the line handing yet another man our papers within
twenty minutes.
The man and my mother talked for a
few minutes before he handed us signed documents allowing us into the Unites
States. At the sight of the papers I clapped my hands in delight. The man
chuckled and sent us on our way. My mother then led us out into the night.
There was a small boat waiting to take us to New York. I knew that at the end of
the boat ride would be my father. It had been a year since I had seen him and I
couldn’t wait to show him how much I had grown. I snuggled into my mother’s
arms and dreamed of his reaction. It was good to be in America.
