There is a counterpoint to the familiar immigrant story of opportunities won: It is the story, less often told, of cultures lost. Its trope is not “a better life for our children” but broken bonds to ancestors, land, identity, and history. For many immigrants, the past is painful and best forgotten; it is the reason they left. But for my father, it was where the best part of himself resided. It was a place where life could still be glimpsed through a child’s eyes.
