I sighed and stroked my rapidly graying beard. My family, consisting of my son and daughter, had been on this damn ship for what seemed like an eternity. We were told that the journey would be long but we didn't imagine that the driving would be so terrible. It was full of sick people of various nationalities, the food was rotten or bad, and it was so cramped that it was almost bearable. Yes, third class rule was definitely the best example of hell on Earth I could find, but it would be worth it for a new life for my family in America. We heard stories of how in America the streets are paved with gold, how life there was like a paradise. Of course I didn't think these were literal, but I still accepted the promise of a better life. If one thing was true about America it was that it had a lot of land. In my home country of Germany, and in many other European nations, overpopulation was becoming a bigger problem. Land was becoming scarce and very expensive. But in America they had enough land for everyone, and it was cheap too! But enough fantasizing about America, at that moment I was above the deck, at the bow of the ship. I was part of a large crowd of immigrants who heard rumors on the ship that we were very close to America. I was interrupted from my reflections when my daughter Katarina asked me, “Dad, when will we get to America?”, she asked me in a curious tone. Looking at the eleven year old I smiled, "Very soon honey, how's your brother?" I asked her. His face became a little sad and he frowned slightly. "Caspar is still in bed and still has that terrible cough of his!" She said, clearly frustrated with the illness plaguing her older brother. I was about to offer some words of comfort to my daughter... middle of paper... about medicine and soon my daughter began to take the road to recovery. Many years later. "Come back soon Otis!" I shouted to a man who came out carrying bread. As I waited at the counter for more deals, I reflected on everything I went through to get to where I am now. My son sadly did not survive the journey back to Germany, but fortunately that was my only major loss. A few years after my daughter recovered from the illness, we moved to a German community in Wisconsin. There I opened a bakery which quickly became successful. The community was full of friendly people and my daughter and I soon found ourselves at home there. In the end, America wasn't some kind of free ticket to fortune, but was a land of opportunity where with hard work you could succeed. I had lost some things by coming to America, but there was so much more that I had gained.