This is my family story. Like every family story, it is unique, but at the same time, universal. We are all children of immigrants in some way. We are inheritors not only of genes but also of stories and values that have shaped us. We did not just grow out of nowhere. We came from a people, a people that may at times embarrass us or fill us with pride. They are ours and we take frm them whatever it is that helps us to understand ourselves. -- Note from author.