Ancestral Ponderings.....They came in ships and that would have made me sick!

The majority of my ancestors came to America when the only way to travel here was by boat.  I like this photo of the ship that might have carried those first ancestors across the ocean.  I can imagine a rough and stormy trip.  Were they brave, were they looking for a better life?  Had they even been on a boat before?  I would love to read about what their voyage was like.

But I know one thing, I would have gotten really sick.  I might have been one of those passengers who set off the first wave of illness.  I could have been one that died from it and had my body thrown over into the ocean.  I think possibly I would have prayed for death if I was in their shoes.  As I unfortunately  get motion sickness very easily.  People who don't suffer from motion sickness just can't understand the dread of it.

When I was in high school I went on two ocean boat trips.  The first I was not prepared for the fact that I would get motion sick.  And unfortunately for me and the rest of the people it was a very windy and stormy day.  Let's just say I was the first to get sick, but almost everyone that day got sick.  Solid land was a welcome sight to us all.

One thing I have learned about motion sickness is that it is hereditary.  And so I assume that one poor woman at some point survived a very bad trip across the ocean.  I'm grateful she made it here and that I'm able to live in this great country.  But I'm glad I don't ever have to take a journey on a ship to an unknown land.  Flying across the country was bad enough for me and my daughter.

G.G.

You can find lots of photo's of ships and information on who was on the ships just by searching for 

"Ships of my ancestors"