"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..."

We took a ferry from Jersey City out into the harbor and circled the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

I couldn't help imagining how those thousands of immigrants that sailed into New York Harbor must have felt when they got that first glimpse.

They must have been exhausted from their many weeks at sea. They might have been sick, hungry. They disembarked at Ellis Island and while they were trying to get back their land legs they were herded through lines. They waited for hours to be inspected and finally allowed to walk out onto American soil.

I've been to foreign countries and experienced the apprehension of culture shock. Being surrounded by an alien language is bewildering to say the least. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been for these immigrants to uproot their entire lives and move to completely unknown territory.

But, they came because they wanted something better for their families. Something better than they had always known.