Grateful American

Joy Neal Kidney

My ancestors chose this place, 
for freedom and hope,
leaving behind the countries
of their birth even before there was an America.

Even with family members lost
to a world war, and my husband
living with Parkinson’s from 
the the Vietnam War,

I’m grateful 
that my ancestors chose this place,
that still invites immigrants
and refugees, 

some from Bosnia I’ve been blessed 
to help settle here in Iowa, 
to attend a naturalization ceremony
and new beginnings for one couple,

to meet our most recent plumber
who immigrated from Russia,
to give thanks for my medical specialist, 
a young woman from Ecuador, 

to celebrate a waitress from Mexico
an American citizen just a year,
who came to in America’s heartland
for opportunity and prosperity,

I was born in America,
the land my ancestors chose.
I blessed to live in this country, 
still a beacon of freedom and hope.

Do you know the song “God Bless America”? It was written by Israel Beilin, a Russian Jew whose family had fled Europe. He became Irving Berlin, who wrote hundreds of songs, including our beloved “God Bless America.” Here is his story through Our American Stories.