THE SUITCASE

Scrolling down through these pages you'll come to a watercolor. Painted June 18th, 1945. A man with a small bundle tied to a stick over his shoulder. Sweat driping. Wrecked old car at a mile-marker.
Many people've walked this walk.
Different reasons. June '45 was a month after the end of WW II? Families broken up. Scattered all over Europe. Without transportation trying to find each other guided by rumors? Hope.

His first name - Mychajlo. Last name later changed from thirteen letters to eleven. Now I wonder: why bother? A two letter difference. "t" and "s" now gone. The American tongue changed first name to Mike. A certain laziness. A disrespect almost.

But only some refuse to accept the new language of the new country. Now, more than back then. In 1949 people learned. We went to school without even one word of English in our empty pockets.