I was at the courthouse, waiting for the summons. It had been a 15-year hard struggle to get to this. Often, I almost gave up. The door to the courtroom opens. I go in. There are about 300 of us in this Tucson courtroom. The judge stands upfront. I look around. Young women from Uzbekistan. Cheerful Irishmen. Cambodian families. Handsome Indian Ph.Ds from Mumbai. Polynesian giants with beautiful tattoos. Ernest Chinese scholars. People fleeing to this refuge. Some of the Lost Boys of the Sudan are here, dressed proudly in fresh-pressed denim. Cambodian families with eyes of sorrow. Young families from the infernos -- the fallen Soviet empires, the Serbian war, the struggles in Ethiopia, Africa. Grandmas, young parents, ambitious students -- people speaking almost every language on earth. "Good morning, everyone," says the elegant Mexican-American judge. "I want to welcome you all on this most special of days. I know that it has been a hard journey to get here." And that was when we all began to weep. Because it was true. For every one of us in our own ways, it had been very hard. For some it was hard to get here. For me it had been hard to stay. But I was determined. Because I had fallen in love. With the beauty of America in its vastness. Its huge open country, long landscapes, towering mountains, people of open heart and cheerful nature. It was love at first sight. "Oh yes!" I breathed as soon as I stepped off the plane in California, "This was where I was meant to have been born." I had at last found where my heart truly belonged. All the time I was being raised in England, feeling oddly out of place, I had really been American. And why do I love it? Because, it's a country full of people who at their best embrace the opportunity to grow, improve, change and transcend. And they think they can do it too. That's the bit I love.
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Frena Gray-Davidson, British born and American by choice, is a 20-year caregiver and the author of five caregiving books, including her latest book Alzheimer's 911: Hope, Help and Healing for Caregivers She presents workshops on understanding dementia communications. Email your suggestions for columns to frenagd@gmail.com.