Nana's Voyage

Nana ~ shortly after arrival

On May 11, 1912, my maternal grandmother, Emily Irvine, embarked on the greatest adventure of her life. A 25 year-old farmer's daughter from County Fermanagh, Ireland, she boarded the S.S. California in Londonderry for New York leaving home, parents and six siblings for a new world and a new life. Three older siblings awaited her in Philadelphia but she was on her own for a week on the North Atlantic. Seeing debris floating in the water from the Titanic disaster, only a month earlier, unsettled her stomach even more. As a girl, I listened to her stories many times without realizing the significance of this trip for her and ultimately for our family.
 

R.M.S. California, 1907-1917, Anchor Line

The rest of my immigrant ancestors sailed from Ireland in the 1840s and 50s, after the Great Hunger, in ships that would have made steerage on the California seem like the QEII. I'm still searching for their names on ship manifests from that period with little success so far. I'm told one great-great-great-grandfather, William Fassett, came over in the early 1850s and then worked to bring over his children, one by one, and his wife last of all. Since this was a common practice among immigrants, it may have been the case for my other ancestors, too. How many made the journey alone? I hope they made friends on board as Nana did.

Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Irish Immigration Memorial (http://www.irishmemorial.org) and the good ship Jeanie Johnston (http://www.jeaniejohnston.ie) have given me a little taste of their crossings. At the "arrival" end of the Philadelphia Memorial sculpture are two figures I find particularly moving: a passenger on the ship is waving to someone on the dock, the friend or family member he prayed would be there to meet him. Today, with worldwide use of cell phones, Skype and email, it's hard to comprehend what that meant to both traveler and greeter. Sometimes contact wasn't made and most east coast newspapers had "Missing Friends" columns to aid each in his search for the other. 

"Hello!"

During WWII, my dad cruised to Europe (and back), courtesy of Uncle Sam. Every morning he checked that the ship was sailing into the sun, still east-bound, and not heading south and then west toward the Pacific theater. The luxury liner Queen Mary was refitted as a troop ship and could carry 15,000 men faster than the other ships in her convoy. Dad sailed on a much humbler ship, however, so I bought him a souvenir mug when I toured the Queen Mary, permanently moored in Long Beach, California, forty-five years later.

Dad and friends arriving in New York ~ February 1946

I've visited Ireland and Europe several times by plane. At some point on each return flight the clouds part and that same vast ocean appears far below. My dream cruise is to sail the North Atlantic between the USA and United Kingdom to experience something of those life-altering voyages in the lives of my forebears, without which I wouldn't be here.

[This was written last year for a Dream Cruise contest which ~ apparently ~ I didn't win.]