As a Polish emigrant who's 15 years younger, a lot of this reminded me of the journey my parents had to undertake to get to the United States. But it's more than that. It's a reflection that applies to the intimidating nature of any major undertaking. I especially recall my parents about the realization that they had nothing more than a little bit of spare money and that they felt like they were "running at the moon with a hatchet," and imagining that it would come down.

Thank you for writing this essay. I emotionally reacted.