The Six-Week Tradition

70 Anniversary

Before my grandparents had a home, an anniversary, or even a country they could confidently call their own, they had a ship crossing the Atlantic.

They had both grown up in refugee camps after the Second World War. By 1950, much of the world was trying to rebuild, but rebuilding meant something different to families like theirs. It meant waiting for paperwork. It meant standing in lines without knowing whether the answer at the end would be yes or no. It meant keeping the few belongings that remained packed closely enough that they could be carried at short notice.

Then, one day, both of their families were offered places aboard a ship.

They were told that it would take them away from Europe, but they did not know exactly where they were going. Canada was a possibility. Venezuela was another. Until the decision was made, their future existed somewhere between two distant names on a map.

My grandmother—my Oma—boarded with her sister and their parents. My grandfather, whom we called Opa, boarded with the members of his family who remained.

None of them knew what waited beyond the ocean.

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Nimra Khan — original fiction published on RapidTale.