“Even though these stories are so different, a lot of the time it’s really the same story” (Peter) Growing up in a purely Caucasian family, I have always felt that my ancestors pretty much lived the same life style as each other. However, in times when I have had a chance to speak with my Grandparents now as an adult I see that all though they may have all been chasing the American Dream, their culture and background caused them to each have very different lives here in America. On my Dads side of the family we have not been able to trace back specifically the originating country of our ancestors however with the last name of Wills and generations of Americans one could most likely assume they are of English decent. On my Moms side of the family,
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For instance if we were trying to do something and needed his help he would say “How many Polacks does it take to…” In speaking with my Polish-American Grandmother Mary who was born in 1934 and grew up in Osceola, Pennsylvania, it was common for the English children and adults to pick on the Polish people and say things like “You dumb Polack” back when she was a child. Fortunately where she lived the Polish, Russians, Slovaks, Italians and Lithuanians all stuck up for each other whenever someone was being picked on or discriminated against though so she said it wasn’t too big of an issue. My Grandpa Ralph (her husband) who was a 2nd generation American who’s Grandparents came from England and Germany once told me that one day when he was a teenager the bus was almost full and he said to a girl, “You dumb Pollack get out of my seat” and the bus driver who was an immigrant kicked him off the bus. It’s funny to hear from both sides the English and the Polish and to think they ended up marrying into each other’s …show more content…
Mostly it is due to the fact that my Grandmothers parents did not pass on hardly any Polish traditions to their children. When my Grandma Mary’s Father applied for citizenship the Judge told him he needed to learn English and quit speaking Polish. The Judge also changed his last name from “Adamus” to Adams to make it more American. My Grandmother Mary was never taught how to speak Polish and was never taught how to cook their traditional meals. According to her family when she was growing up they were Americans. My Grandmother said to me recently that she would know nothing of Poland if it wasn’t for my parents traveling to Poland and telling her about it. My Grandmother said it was quite rare for her parents to talk about their lives in Poland. To me this actually says a lot about the life of the Polish people when they came to America. Being Polish wasn’t something to be proud of and the dream to be an American was the ultimate
For instance if we were trying to do something and needed his help he would say “How many Polacks does it take to…” In speaking with my Polish-American Grandmother Mary who was born in 1934 and grew up in Osceola, Pennsylvania, it was common for the English children and adults to pick on the Polish people and say things like “You dumb Polack” back when she was a child. Fortunately where she lived the Polish, Russians, Slovaks, Italians and Lithuanians all stuck up for each other whenever someone was being picked on or discriminated against though so she said it wasn’t too big of an issue. My Grandpa Ralph (her husband) who was a 2nd generation American who’s Grandparents came from England and Germany once told me that one day when he was a teenager the bus was almost full and he said to a girl, “You dumb Pollack get out of my seat” and the bus driver who was an immigrant kicked him off the bus. It’s funny to hear from both sides the English and the Polish and to think they ended up marrying into each other’s …show more content…
Mostly it is due to the fact that my Grandmothers parents did not pass on hardly any Polish traditions to their children. When my Grandma Mary’s Father applied for citizenship the Judge told him he needed to learn English and quit speaking Polish. The Judge also changed his last name from “Adamus” to Adams to make it more American. My Grandmother Mary was never taught how to speak Polish and was never taught how to cook their traditional meals. According to her family when she was growing up they were Americans. My Grandmother said to me recently that she would know nothing of Poland if it wasn’t for my parents traveling to Poland and telling her about it. My Grandmother said it was quite rare for her parents to talk about their lives in Poland. To me this actually says a lot about the life of the Polish people when they came to America. Being Polish wasn’t something to be proud of and the dream to be an American was the ultimate