It was blustery and quite rough today on the North Atlantic . 8 foot swells and a very strong eastern wind. I spent most of the day holed up in my cabin reading and sleeping.

Somehow we got upgraded to a two bedroom suite with a butler who brings the husband PBJ sandwiches every afternoon and me some lavish cheese plate. It’s a nice life

This is the second time I’ve crossed the Atlantic but this time it’s a more relaxed and casual vibe and a bit more luxurious which considering my first trip was on the Queen Mary seems hard to believe.

I’m sitting here on my balcony and it’s hard not to think of what a huge role this ocean played in the lives of so many American families. Millions crossed this ocean voluntarily to change their lives , escape persecution and provide a future for their children and millions crossed this ocean in shackles dragged from their homes and families.

However, in so many cases history is very personal so it’s hard not thinking about my mothers father , my grandfather Alfred Edmund Syvertsen who made this journey alone as a 12 year old boy to join his older brother and sister who were already here. He was an orphan and his brother and sister were the only family he had left. Of course, when 12 year old AE crossed he wasn’t in a 2 bedroom suite. He would have been in steerage. Sharing space with literally a thousand strangers in cramped and dirty quarters in the bowels of the ship. I can’t imagine the fear, loneliness and trepidation he had making that journey in the early year of a new century. But he did make it and he flourished here in the states even after his older brother gave up

and went back to Norway . My grandfather and his older sister flourished in this new world and built lives here. I’m a result of that and it’s hard not to be incredibly grateful as I sit in a suite on a cruise ship eating pbj and think about him and his bravery and diligence. Many years ago I visited Norway and met his sister in law who had come back to Norway with her husband and built their lives again. She told me all about my grandfather and his journey and I couldn’t help think “Thank god he was made of sterner stuff than I “