On Going Back

Summertime is travel time. For some travelers the destination is a place previously known personally or an area having to do with family history. Sometimes the two coincide.

What if an elusive early childhood memory persists into adulthood and there is no one who can explain it? A small child saw a large interior with tall windows in a certain style. She sat on a long bench and was entertained by a wooden birdcage held by another seated person. Many years later she saw a television program about Ellis island - and there were those familiar windows! She may go back some day to see for herself her father's and mother's and her name on the immigration lists.

The puzzle of the wooden birdcage persists.