Where We Come From

Deciding to move to a different country has seemed pretty unreal at times. It won’t seem possible that I’ll just pick up and leave until I’m gone, and traveling to Australia has ignited some thought in me about where I come from.
Like most Americans I’m a big mix of different nationalities- English, German, Scottish, Cherokee, and Italian to name a few. It’s the Italian side that I’ve been considering lately. My last name, Aranci, is Italian. I am the last Aranci in the world which has always thrilled and terrified me a little. Seems like I ought to do something really great to let the name live on in history, you know? But who knows.
Anyway, my grandfather’s grandfather came to America from Italy, somewhere near Rome I think, a long time ago. And he ended up near Superior, Colorado. He shoveled coal off of a train and married a woman named Elvira.
I imagine him looking at Elvira after coming home some nights, his hands black from the coal and his face tired, and saying “We can do this.” The amazing thing is, they did. They made it through those very tough first years in America, homesteaded some land in parts of future Fort Collins, Colorado, and now their great-great-granddaughter has the opportunity to not only attend college, but to travel and see some of the world before graduating. I wonder what they would think if they knew all that hard work would trickle through the generations to lend all of Sam and Elvira’s lineage unbelievable opportunity and happy lives. But then again, I bet they did know and that’s exactly why Sam kept shoveling coal and farming and Elvira kept cooking and cleaning and resting her hand in solidarity on Sam’s shoulder after long Colorado days far from Italy.
If I ever I find myself in Australia and I miss my bus or get lost or hate my apartment I’m just going to think “I can do this.” Partly to tip my hat to my immigrant origins and the hard work they put forth for opportunities like this for me, and partly just because heck, if Sam could leave his homeland and shovel coal off a train in Superior I think I can handle going to Australia for a bit to study whatever I want.
I like the idea of studying abroad because I think it’s in line with my personal trajectory of history and who I’ll end up being because of where I’ve been, and because of a larger family, maybe national history.
Where do you come from? Where are you going?