My Father, in Four Visits Over Thirty Years
This is an interesting story but as others have commented, one without a clear point. that&#x27;s not to say that we can&#x27;t draw something from it. We can. Or at least I can.<p>Very tangentially I&#x27;m reminded of a book called <i>White Teeth</i> (by Zadie Smith) that I found compelling (I was living in England at the time).<p>Some others have commented that the author feels like things like children are an imposition. Superficially, I see why, but I think that misses the point.<p>She hints at this in other parts. How she comes across to me is I think what must be typical of many first generation immigrants (those first to be born in the country or who emigrated there in childhood).<p>You see stories like this where a family comes to the US from Russia where someone who was a doctor now works as a janitor to give his or her children a better life. I think it must be common to get knocked down several rungs on the social ladder when making this kind of move. But it&#x27;s a sacrifice many parents make for the sake of their children.<p>Having gone to Princeton and Harvard (as the author and her brother did), they became fairly high achievers, which is to be applauded but is also I think the exception. It must be a huge part of their psyche to remember where you came from, coming to the US with nothing, living as a refugee on virtually nothing and so on.<p>One affect that has on someone, and I think you have to have experienced poverty to some degree to truly appreciate this, is the inescapable fear that all that you&#x27;ve worked for in life might go away, be taken away. Those who aren&#x27;t first generation immigrants or came from money I think just don&#x27;t appreciate this lack of security as it&#x27;s not something they&#x27;re typically exposed to or have any experience with.<p>I&#x27;m not even sure the author realizes it even though it&#x27;s what I took from the piece. Perhaps the book will explore this (the book is mentioned at the bottom). Perhaps it&#x27;s an editing snafu with the excerpt.