Travel

I love to visit new places, and travel to places I have been before that I enjoy visiting.

But I like doing it on my terms.

Sometimes I travel for work, and it gets my schedule out of whack.

That happened a couple of weeks ago.

Sometimes I spend months planning a trip, making all kinds of plans, and then I think by the time the trip comes, I am mentally ready and prepared.to go.

And sometimes I go on trips, and I feel very unprepared.  I arrive in a new area, and feel like I don't know anything about the place, and feel like a fish out of water.

But I usually have control over my traveling.  Even if I have to do it for work, I make travel arrangements and know where I am going.

But I just finished reading about a book based on a true story about children who were forced to travel from their home in the eastern part of the country to the Midwest to find a new home. 

The book is called "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline. 

 

Here is an overview of the book:

Between 1854 and 1929, so-called orphan trains ran regularly from the cities of the East Coast to the farmlands of the Midwest, carrying thousands of abandoned children whose fates would be determined by pure luck. Would they be adopted by a kind and loving family, or would they face a childhood and adolescence of hard labor and servitude? As a young Irish immigrant, Vivian Daly was one such child, sent by rail from New York City to an uncertain future a world away. Returning east later in life, Vivian leads a quiet, peaceful existence on the coast of Maine, the memories of her upbringing rendered a hazy blur. But in her attic, hidden in trunks, are vestiges of a turbulent past. Seventeen-year-old Molly Ayer knows that a community-service position helping an elderly widow clean out her attic is the only thing keeping her out of juvenile hall. But as Molly helps Vivian sort through her keepsakes and possessions, she discovers that she and Vivian aren't as different as they appear. A Penobscot Indian who has spent her youth in and out of foster homes, Molly is also an outsider being raised by strangers, and she, too, has unanswered questions about the past. Moving between contemporary Maine and Depression-era Minnesota, Orphan Train is a powerful tale of upheaval and resilience, second chances, and unexpected friendship.

I had no idea this happened in our nation's history.  I found it very interesting the whole story behind doing this with the children.  This book is a wonderful story blending the story of one of the riders on the orphan train with a modern day girls currently in the foster care system. 

Here is a television show about this part of history:  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/orphan/

And here is another video that talks about it as well:  http://youtu.be/cWTTcNBfaRw

As you read through some of the stories, some children did have wonderful experiences. 

Others did not. 

But at the time, they thought sending them to good homes in the Midwest was better than having them live in Orphanages.  But after a while, they must have realized this wasn't the best solution.