My favorite moment in New York City was in September of 2009 when my mother and I went back to the east coast, to New Jersey, to visit relatives. Over the last few years, I’ve become quite the genealogy buff, so I knew that when we were back east we had to take a trip into the city to go to Ellis Island. Taking a ferry over to the Island, I felt the excitement of knowing that I would soon be where some of my ancestors stood. When entering the main doors, I could feel the connection to the people that struggled and found their way to the United States of America. Walking around the complex, I knew that I was there, where my relatives were. There were so many pictures and items from the past. Every picture and story I passed by I had to look at and read to see if perhaps my great grandparents were there. Maybe I could find a connection to something I didn’t know about before. They went through so much to travel through that complex, from the tests and exams, to just the simple act of having to wait for so long to be allowed to pass onto a boat that would take them where they wanted to go — New York City. I knew that one set of my great grandparents were on the Wall of Honor and it was such a great experience to find their names and touch the wall, knowing that they were there. It was an emotional day that I will never forget.
