"Break" Assignment: Part Two

              My parents, little sister, and I were all born in the United States. My mom and my uncle Todd were born in Baltimore, Maryland and my dad and my uncle Gary were born in Martinsburg, West Virginia. My dad’s parents were also born in West Virginia. Shortly after my uncle Gary was born, my dad’s father was hired for a job in Maryland so the family had to move. About ten years after the move, my dad’s father died from lung cancer; he smoked all the time. Even though my dad struggled from the heartache of losing his father, my dad still finished high school and went to Essex Community College which is where he met my mom.

                My mom and my uncle Todd were born in Baltimore Maryland. They both grew up in an old row home in a neighborhood where there were tons of kids to play with. After my mom moved out of the house, my grandparents and my uncle moved up o Bel Air, Maryland. When my mom first met my dad in college in English class, they both knew they were meant to be. They dated for a while, got married, and had me and my little sister in Baltimore, Maryland. About two years ago, we decided to move to Forest Hill, Maryland so we could be closer to our grandparents.

 My grandfather and both of his parents were born down south in Alabama. They moved up to Maryland just a few months after my grandfather was born. Al my grandfather’s life he was enrolled in Catholic schools and became enrolled in the Marine Corp. where he fought in the Korean War. My grandfather met my grandmother in high school through a friend. Like my parents, when they first met, they knew they were meant to be. My grandmother and both of her parents were born in Baltimore Maryland. Like my grandfather, my grandmother was enrolled in Catholic schools all her life. As a young girl, my grandmother loved going to visit her grandparents who were originally from Ireland.

My grandmother’s grandparents were both born in Ireland. They both decided to move to America because they wanted a better life for themselves and for their upcoming children. They were tired of being dirt poor, not owning their own land, having to pay taxes to the British, and they wanted to practice Catholicism in peace. They moved to Baltimore, Maryland on a good piece of land in the tenth ward controlled by the Irish immigrants. It wasn’t easy in the beginning, however, considering there was discrimination against Irish Catholics. My Grandmother’s grandfather worked for the local Catholic Church and my grandmother’s grandmother was a cook for a large Jewish family and also volunteered at the Church. After a few years, though, they started to be accepted in American eyes.