Generational Losses and Gains

The Immigrant’s Story vs. World Citizen

My grandparents crossed the ocean as young immigrants in their teens, following the old story. Their home countries were struggling economically, and America offered the chance for employment and, with it, opportunity.

My parents were the first generation born in America, which wasn’t unusual, as immigration swelled in the early 1900s. I have some of my grandmother’s things, including the trunk my grandmother used on that ocean voyage to America.

Christmas, especially, is the time I remember Scandinavian rituals, with traditional Scandinavian foods and the celebration of Santa Lucia. I have surviving Scandinavian holiday decorations.

My grandchildren have a mix of many European heritages, and they will not remember their grandmother’s eyes filling with tears as she said the birches and lakes of Minnesota reminded her of the old country. Their father’s voice didn’t contain the lilt of speaking Swedish at home until he went to school.

They will probably not get visits from “the Swedish cousins” or care about distant relatives in the old country.

My grandchildren will not know the pride of one heritage, and at the same time the pride of the diverse community and schools they attend, with the many ethnic versions of our family’s story.

At the same time, living abroad has become more routine, and travel abroad is expected — a form of tourism that has become commonplace. I remember pictures from my aunt of boarding the Queen Mary ocean liner for passage across the ocean. My two grandchildren, preschoolers, have passports with stamps and have flown on a plane many times. They will be citizens of the world, not just a community or country.

It is hard for me to imagine what the worldview may be 60 years from now, perhaps when they have grandchildren. It is hard enough to know if my viewpoint is generational, or contextual, or peculiar to me.

Artificial intelligence will play a bigger role. The question of identity and agency may become more fraught. This country’s role in the world could become more collaborative — there is always hope. Alas, war will continue, as it has as long as I can remember, and millennia before that.

Oh, I know there are many technical changes and nostalgia trips. I am not talking about those. What will their worldview be?

I confess, I have my own, and I am glad to leave the future to them. I do trust the newest generation. Trust is the constant.