The Bible. Widely understood to be the most influential piece of literature ever written, and the source of countless suffering and elation. However, let us scale this back a little bit to something more personal, like the story of a single family, my family. Religion, and therefore the Bible, has acted like a binding agent, holding together the individual members of my family no matter how far they may have strayed. While it is not known for certain where the great attachment to religion among my ancestry originates, I strongly believe it comes from my direct line of origin back to the British Isles. We have proof that one of my great grandfathers immigrated to the States from the British Isles in the mid-1800’s, likely fleeing the devastating Irish Potato Famine that killed as much as 25% of the Irish people, my people. It only makes sense to imagine the perilous journey this man must have gone on, seeing his beloved homeland decimated by famine and permanently changed, only being given the strength to persevere by his unwavering faith. While my family is not currently Catholic like this man probably was, leaning much more on a protestant belief system, I can chalk that up to other Western European and English influences along the way. The important thing, however, is that even 170 years later, and mixing of people from all different backgrounds, we still hold our faith as a central tenet that holds and supports my family through the changing tides of time, thanks in no small part to the man that brought us here.

– Colin Miller

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more