The Events of Thursday, November 18, 2010

          A bright light was shining into my face. Daddy stood above me holding a flashlight, literally, right in my face, to make me wake up. He whispered, “Quick, get up and go to the bathroom.” I rushed into my shoes and jacket, and still wearing my pajamas and ran inside our host, Gretchen Janssen’s (lovingly called ‘Oma Janssen’ by us kids) house. I slipped off my shoes and rushed to the bathroom. Still half-asleep, I staggered back out to the RV, threw off my jacket and shoes, and hopped into my nice, cozy bed and promptly fell back asleep. While the kids slept, our parents drove us to the New Jersey ferry that would take us to the Statue of Liberty. I woke about a half hour later and with my siblings, made up the beds, got dressed, and packed breakfast and lunch in backpacks. Decked out in big warm jackets and gloves, we then stepped out of our RV in the parking lot of Liberty State Park in the cool crisp air of this Thursday morning, November 18.

          We walked very quickly into the ferry station, outside of which our ferry, Miss Liberty, awaited to take us to Ellis Island and Liberty Island. We again used the facilities (mind you, this was a good hour or so after we left) and stood in the long line to get on the ferry; except, as we found out, we had to go through security first. It was mostly like airport security, but you didn’t have to take your shoes off. We passed a huge group of field tripping high schoolers, and got to get on the boat before them. We had a short ride and then got off at Ellis Island. As we did, we stepped into the shoes of the some 12 million immigrants that walked through the very doors we were just entering …

          The year is 1917, we are a family from, let’s say, Russia, searching for a new life in America. Our destination is Springfield, Illinois, where Daddy has been promised a good paying job as a clockmaker. We had just walked off a boat that had carried us for 15 days across the Atlantic. We carry only one trunk containing all of the belongings we brought with us. We are wrapped in blankets and are shivering with cold and fear. We walk inside the door and are greeted by a chaotic mob of people, yelling in a hundred different languages, babies crying, and officers shouting in English. We are approached by an American officer, who is screaming in English at us. We don’t understand what he’s saying. In fact, we are very much afraid of him. He is wearing a uniform, and it was uniformed men, just like this one that made our lives in Russia unbearable. Finally, through gestures, we realize that he wants us to leave our trunk with him. We add it to a large pile of other trunks, bundles, and baskets and the man hands us a tag with strange symbols written on it.

          We follow the massive crowd up a steep, winding stairway. At the top, six inspectors glare down at us. Caitlin whispers something in Russian to Abby about how all of the uniformed men have matching, coordinated outfits, and in the process, accidently trips on a stair. All of the cruel beady eyes of the officials turn toward her. When we reach the top of the stairway, an inspector pulls out a large white piece of chalk and marks a large ‘X’ on Caitlin’s jacket. Without explanation, the officer ushers Caitlin down the hall and into a room. We stand there, shocked and bewildered. Will we ever see our sister again? What if she is sent back to Russia? We didn’t even have time to say good-bye.

          Then, we are herded, like cattle, into lines for our medical exams. There a doctor in uniform inspects our nails, ears, teeth, skin, and eyes. The worst part is the eyes. The doctor pulls out a buttonhook, a pointy metal stick with a smooth curve at one end. He uses the curved end to take our eyelids and pull them up and back, to check for a contagious eye disease, called trachoma. Thankfully, we all pass through without much difficulty. Caitlin, meanwhile, is taking a mental exam. The ‘X’ that they had put on her jacket told the officials that she was suspected to have a mental illness. However, she passes the puzzle tests with flying colors and we are soon reunited with her after enduring the medical exams.

          We then walk with her into the enormous Registry Room. The Registry Room is enormous, almost as big as the ship that brought us to America. It is filled with wooden benches crowded with other immigrants. We are waiting for one of the inspectors sitting at the tall desks to call our name.

          Suddenly we realize we are very hungry. The food on the ship was awful and scant. But as we sit, strange smells waft into the room. It is time for the midday meal and so, the officials direct us into the dining hall. There we are served warm meat and white bread, so sweet, it tastes like cake. Then we are handed these strange yellow sticks they call bananas. We have no idea how to eat them, so we just bite off an end. The yellow outside is awfully crunchy and rather bitter, but once you bite through, the white inside is soft and sweet. After we eat all the food on our plates, they bring in bowls and bowls of white stuff in perfect balls. The lady who serves it calls it ice cream. It is startlingly cold and creamy and we all love it. On our way back out to the Registry Room, we got separated and lost.

          As we move forward in the bustling crowd, somehow Mom and I are separated from our family. Frantically we look here and there. We cannot find them anywhere. We cling to one another as we turn this way and that searching for a familiar face. The building is huge and everyone is wearing dark clothes. Finally, I spy Daddy’s tall head several aisles over. We call to him. Thankfully he has collected all of my siblings and our two groups push through the crowds to meet up again. Grateful to be together once more, we sit on a wooden bench and the waiting begins. After about an hour or so, ladies brought around glasses of warm milk and platters of doughnuts. Already we are eating better than the tsar of Russia!

          After we finish, the inspector closest to us calls out: “Jaaames Taylurrrr!” We all jump up and rush to his desk. He starts with Daddy and then works his way down, asking each of us 29 questions: our names (some people say their names and the inspectors write it down differently, for example: Abigail, Gabrielle), where we came from, where we were going, our occupations, the amount of money we have, if we already have a job in America, and so many more. There is a little hold up when Daddy tells them of his promised job as a clockmaker. There seems to be some conflicting questions here. On the one hand the inspector wants proof that Daddy can provide for his family and not become a burden to the government. On the other hand, they are watching out for people coming over as indentured servants. Since Daddy is able to show them the letter from Uncle Olaf promising him the job, he is cleared to proceed. Finally, the inspector stamps our papers and with a wave of his hand, says, “Well, you’re good to go!” When the interpreter tells us, we are all so excited. We walk down the left side of the stairway, which leads out to a room where we can exchange money, buy food, and rail tickets to Springfield. We find out later that the middle staircase led to detainment and possible deportation and that the right staircase led to ferries to New York City.

          So, now the ancient Russian Taylor family made it through Ellis Island and all the way to Springfield, Illinois, (by the way, we’re not in the least way Russian and we have never lived in Illinois). That was a basic summary of what we learned during the five hours we spent at Ellis Island. After watching a movie, taking an audio tour, viewing a museum, going on a ranger led tour by a highly caffeinated Ranger Peter Wong; we were very well educated and knew our way around the building quite well. We stopped at noon to have lunch in the cafeteria downstairs, but we were glad we had brought our own food, so we didn’t have to spend $9 on fish and chips and $4 on onion rings! When we had finished everything to be done at Ellis Island, we again boarded the ferry, and took it to Liberty Island.

          For us kids, this was the first time we had seen the Statue of Liberty, and I don’t mean to be cheesy, but it was kind of awe-inspiring. We went to get audio tours and junior rangers, and before we knew it, we had locked up our bags in lockers and were ascending the steps to the top of the pedestal. We went through the museum that was up there and learned all about the history of the statue and then took the elevator up, skipping about 120 steps, but we still did have to climb about 80 steps anyway. We got out at the observation deck and looked up at Lady Liberty. However, from this vantage point, being so close to the statue, we couldn’t really see much. Mom made a corny joke about not looking up Lady Liberty’s skirt. So we just took pictures and enjoyed the view. Then, we walked all the way down on the stairs and out to retrieve our bags. While Mom, Daddy, and Ben went on a ranger tour with Ranger Steve, who had a funky moustache (the ends were twisted into points), the three girls took the audio tour around the island. It was lots of fun. We boarded the final ferry back to the island. As we ferried away we realized that we had taken the first ferry out and the last ferry back. What a day‼

          Returning to the RV we hopped in, drove down the street, and emptied our sewage into a sewer on the opposite side of the road. We were running a little late, so we stopped for dinner at a Chinese takeout and were privately served by the owner of the restaurant and her son. The little boy had lots of fun talking to us while we ate, dimming and turning the lights on and off over and over again. We eventually collapsed in our beds safely back at Oma Janssen’s house and slept as hard as we could! So, how was your Thursday?