My Family Heritage: What still lives on today?

America in the early 1900’s was a land of endless opportunity; the land which would become the “Melting Pot” of culture and heritage. Many immigrants came to America searching for a fruitful life filled with jobs and endless land. One of these immigrants was my Great Grandma Haydu, a woman who made her way onto American soil when she was only seventeen years old. In succeeding generations my family would grow to become more educated and become very successful individuals.
In 1900 my Great Grandma Haydu was born in Hungary to her parents Gustave and Katerina. She grew up in a large family with six other siblings and many of them shared rooms in a small little house that could barely hold them all. The Haydu family lived on a very poor farm that supplied only enough food for dinners. The children were always hungry and the jobs in Hungary could not be depended on because of the poor wages. Despite these conditions Great Grandma Haydu attended school in a one room schoolhouse and was educated up to grade nine. After she quit school she helped her Mother tend to household chores and nurture the younger children. One day her Father told her she should go to America so she could live a better life and never grow hungry again. She accepted his offer and was ready to search for a better life with better job opportunities. He gave her enough money for the boat ride to America and sent her off the very next day.
She left her entire family in 1917 to board a crowded ship that would take her to New York. The boat was dirty and the weather conditions were harsh, but she made it to American soil in overall good condition. Great Grandma Haydu was a young woman of seventeen who only spoke her native language. She brought with her a knapsack of personal belongings and money to purchase a plot of land. She could not speak English but was very handy working in the home. She had the capabilities of finding a job in the United States.
Grandma Haydu arrived in New York and immediately traveled to Northern New Jersey where there cheap plots of land. She settled in New Jersey because there were numerous job opportunities and a place she could call her own. After she settled into a small house she acquired a job at a silk mill and she supported herself as a single woman working on creating garments. She soon got married so she could better support herself and live more comfortably. She lived as a poor working – class woman and worked very hard balancing a job at the local silk mill and raising a family.
She gave birth to my Grandfather Gustave Kish who had a great talent for physics and mathematics. He took his schooling seriously and was educated up to twelfth grade in a one room school house. My Grandfather stayed close to his Mother living only minutes away from her in Berkshire Valley, NJ. He married my Grandmother who worked in a cigarette-rolling factory. She was raised in a small house filled with eighteen children in Berkshire Valley, New Jersey. My Grandmother always prized her faith to God and she was able to direct my Grandfather into the light of the Father. As my Grandmother raised two children my Grandfather got a job at the Picatinny Arsenal as the head engineer in designing submarines and missiles. One day at work one of the machines he worked on malfunctioned and it destroyed his left hand. He was rushed to the hospital and they intensively treated his hand. He has three broken fingers to this day. He collected money for his injuries and still worked as the head of the Arsenal. He became an upper class citizen. I am very proud of my Grandfather and how he succeeded in life. He grew up in a house that spoke Hungarian yet despite that learned to speak English and become talented in physics. For my Grandfather and Grandmother, they made giant leaps and bounds in establishing a higher class level. My Grandmother and Grandfather efficiently put two children into college so that they too could become well-educated people. In fact, their generosity is still so high that they gave me funds to attend college this year.
My Grandparents raised my Mother Judy, a young woman who was the first generation to attend all her schooling and earned a degree in college. My Mother attended William Patterson and received a degree in teaching multiply disabled children. After graduating college she married my Father who graduated from Rutgers. Both of my parents taught in public schools so they could afford a home and life’s expenses. Prices of goods heightened during my parent’s generation so my parents both needed to work jobs. My Father and Mother moved to Wantage, New Jersey because they fell in love with a small farm. The location was close to my Grandparents and work, so it was an ideal place to live. My parents fall into the Middle Class today because teachers do not make the best salary. My family lives comfortably and prefers to live the simpler life where money does not matter extensively. My family’s financial status climbed significantly compared to where my Great Grandma Haydu’s was at.
My parents raised three children and helped us become strong individuals. I am the oldest of the children. I completed all of my schooling and am currently attending Ramapo College with hopes to get a degree in Literature. I live on my family’s farm, a place which sets me back into time. We produce our own food to conserve on money and to eat fresher food. I help work on my family’s farm so they can harvest hay, vegetables, and fruits. I have worked smaller jobs such as at a Landscaping Company managing the business. These jobs help me acquire money for my college education. My parents are great people and are the main ones supporting me and my college endeavors. In my future I have high expectations that my life’s earnings will be similar to my parent’s and that I will comfortably live to be a Middle Class citizen. I am engaged to a sophomore at Ramapo College, and when we settle together we will both have income coming in from both sides. I have high hopes to become a strong leader and to be as stoic and brave as all my preceding generations have been.
My strong religious background has been the foundation that made me the person I am today. My family raised me to be a Presbyterian and I was baptized and confirmed into the church. As a young girl I was always amazed by the Pastor’s sermons and the sermon’s messages about life. These messages helped me become an accepting young woman who tried to share God’s love with my friends both young and old. I made friends with older ladies forty years older than I was, but there are no age limits when you share the love of God. I became so inspired by God that I took up playing the piano and organ so I could perform musical selections for my church.
Having a deep religious background helps change one’s perspective about life. I became closer to my family and I was thankful for all the joys in my life. Studying the Bible helped me become an accepting and loving person to all those that I had met. The Bible helped teach me how to be tolerant, accepting, and loving. This beloved book teaches its readers to love all people and to love them in the name of the Lord. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs” (Corinthians, 13-1). This is my favorite phrase in the Bible that speaks about how love has no flaws or bitterness. If humanity lived in the footsteps of love the world would be a more accepting place. Living life through the messages of the Bible taught me how to become tolerant and accepting to others. No matter what religion or belief someone holds they should be treated with love, respect, and care.
My religious background shaped my life by sorting my priorities. I put friends and family before myself because I want to walk in the footsteps of the Lord. I am always there to help the needy and donate to those less fortunate than I. Strong faith helps give strength and hope to me. I feel a reason to get up in the morning and to live my life obeying the rules of the Lord. When all else fails to life, God is always there to answer prayers and to give strength to those that are in need. Having strong faith has helped me strive for goals in life because I hold something very important to me. Through my faith I have been able to heal people through their losses, make the elderly laugh, and help young children grasp the love of the Father. In my very own life I try to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, and although my footsteps are so tiny compared to his, I am following the path of God, the path that leads to heaven.
I can relate better to others with my strong spiritual background because faith has allowed me to become a tolerant human being who accepts all people. One day a speaker from Africa came to our church and talked to us how the love of God connected us together. He talked to us about the impoverished conditions of his church and how many people still come to church even though they are sick or starving. It is that very faith that links us all together. No matter how far apart people may be, no matter what job they have, or what faith they have, we still have the same level of faith. All of us enter the church body, the body of God to become one. We all have the same reason for entering the Body of God. We come there to escape the prejudices of the world, and the cruelty to humanity. Once we enter those doors we enter into a new realm where people forget their differences and join as one congregation.
My strong religious faith has helped me find the unity in man. It has helped me realize that we are all the same despite the minute differences of race or gender. I can walk up to people and not criticize who they are not; I look at them to see who they are. My church has given me the incentive to meet people different than I am so that we can learn to accept one another’s differences. “Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God” (Romans, 15-7). This phrase is one of many that the Bible teaches its readers to relate to one another with acceptance. As a strong believer, I live by these words with all my heart.
Throughout the generations my family has evolved to become very successful individuals. We can never forget about those in our path that were the foundation of our family who made living in America possible. Her faith and love in God still lives on today. My entire family has attended the same church that she once attended many years ago. I continue that very tradition and hope that same faith will live on in my children’s generation.