...Where I Come From
I come from a little village in the extreme northwest corner of Minnesota named St. Vincent. It was one of the first areas to be settled in the upper part of what was once called the Dakotas. It opened up the entire Red River Valley of the North, and was a key point along the rail line built by J.J. Hill.
My great uncle
Richard Fitzpatrick, was one of those men who helped build the line Hill financed. My own father came after him, working for the same company, the Great Northern Railroad (now evolved into the Burlington Northern Santa Fe).
I have long realized that my childhood, while not perfect, was about as close to perfect as you can get. While I only have two sisters (9 and 11 years older than I was), I still identified closely with the family portrayed in the television program "THE WALTONS". My growing up was simple, innocent, and to a point idyllic even. Long days playing in fields, woods, my playhouse, exploring alone or with friends. Hanging out with my best friend, "Dusty". Family around - grandparents down the road, cousins across the county we'd visit on Sunday afternoon drives. Friends and relatives stopping by unannounced and welcomed around the dinner table. Taking care of the garden, picking chokecherries in the fall to make jelly. First memories of attending church, swinging my legs and bumping the pew in front, being taken outside for a good talking to. Another time, being taken out after gasping for breath when I had my first strong allergic reaction to a lilac bouquet by the altar.
Fast forward to today:
A characteristic picked up from the women in my mother's family is tenacity. It has held me in good stead in several situations requiring vigilence in my life thus far. One example is the ongoing fight for child support that I undertook for my children. Despite it going on until they were grown, I still felt that their father needed to answer for his neglect towards them, both morally and financially.
He wrote me a letter of apology in 2001. Whether that was from true repentence, to make himself feel better, or to put himself in a good light before a judge, who knows...I had long ago come to peace about my ex-husband and moved on. My fight had been for my children, not against him.
The criminal trial for felony non-payment of child support against my husband was in January 2002; I was subpoenaed to testify at the trial. I was planning on attending anyways. I wouldn't have missed this for the world after 15 years...
UPDATE: March 11, 2002 - Justice was finally served
UPDATE: July 29, 2002 - I should have have known better
UPDATE: August 25, 2002 - My case set a record in Minnesota...
FINAL UPDATE: February 29, 2004 - Tom passes away from an overdose; sad, but not unexpected...
September 11, 2001...
I'm over in the middle of America, but even here I felt personal reprecussions via my daughter and son-in-law, Eva and Meran. After the attack, with fear and the inevitable hate that often comes with it, many people lashed out at innocent others. Their motives are unknown...ignorance, hate? Who knows. But on October 31, 2001, my son-in-law's bookstore, which is attached to his mosque, was vandalized. He was alright, moved on, but it scared him bad enough to doubt the country he had come to as a refugee fleeing persecution, after losing family in his native land from another bully, Saddam Hussein...
February 2003 to the Present...
This is what my son-in-law and his family went through in the late 1980's, fleeing Sadam; this is what Meran, and people like he and his family, are facing now...
...Where I Live Now
FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA
(& MOORHEAD, MINNESOTA)
It’s all in the perspective, you know.
When people first came to the
Red River Valley, they didn’t come because of the area’s reputation. They came
because of opportunity - free land, escaping pasts, new starts. The challenges of isolation and brutal weather
conditions handed to the first settlers who endured them, brought out the character that is still here today - a strong
work ethic, willingness to help those less fortunate, cultivating the finer aspects of humanity.
Fargo is the largest city in North Dakota. It borders Minnesota on the Red River of the North (across that river is Moorhead, MN...) When people think of us, if they think of us at all, it’s as the lowest temperature in the nation in January, or the worst flood in 500 years in 1997, or as that
‘funny little movie’.
I’ve lived in the Fargo/Moorhead area since 1986, but have visited the town since the late 1960’s. It’s a town founded on agriculture, but as as things evolve, so have Fargo/Moorhead. They've become cities of education with their four universities and colleges. They've
become places known for quality of life, Fargo being voted several times as one of the 10 best places to live in the USA. In 2000,
Fargo,ND/Moorhead,MN collectively were named an All-American City in the annual competition held by the National Civic League.
I think one of the reasons stems back to these two town’s beginnings - they welcomed everyone, no matter who they were.
Despite the modest size of Fargo/Moorhead, and their seemingly landlocked geographic positions,
they have become two of the major immigration destinations in the USA for refugees from around the world. Our area has welcomed thousands of
refugees from Viet Nam, Laos, Somalia, former USSR republics, Kurdistan/Iraq, and Bosnia/Croatia, etc. over the
past 25 years. My sister hosted a brother and sister from Viet Nam for a year until their mother and other family
members could come and begin their life together again. My daughter met and married a wonderful young Kurdish
man whose family came to Fargo thanks to the refugee program.
Fargo/Moorhead are indeed places of extremes - extreme weather conditions where you know you’re alive; extreme flatness
where you can see for miles and your imagination runs free; extremely wide open skies where you can see every star
like you can reach out and touch it; extremely friendly people where you know if you need a helping hand, it’ll be
there...
To some, it may be boring. But to those of us who know it, it’s anything but.
It’s all in the perspective, you know...
...What I do
Besides being a network systems administrator for Uncle Sam*, I love photography, music (listening and playing), reading, and great conversation...oh, and writing...LOTS and LOTS of writing!
*DISCLAIMER: The contents of this website are mine personally, and do not reflect any position of the US Government or SSA.
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