The Lady in the Harbor

One of the most inspiring activities to do when in New York City is to see Lady Liberty. Now most people go to the island to see her; me, I never did.  I always wanted to experience seeing the Statue of Liberty the way the immigrants did after she was put up in 1886.  Think about how it must have been for the people who had left everything behind in order to start anew in a country filled with opportunities and hope.  They left their homes, family, friends, and countries with the belief in the myth of roads paved with gold and freedoms for everyone.  The promise of riches and, in reality, land brought wave after wave of immigrants to New York City and standing tall in the harbor was the Lady greeting them with the words of the poem, The New Colossus:

"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"  Emma Lazarus

is found in full text at the Lady's feet.  Lady Liberty was not created as a symbol for immigrants, she was a gift from the people of France in recognition of the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The tablet she holds in her arm is inscribed with the date of the Declaration, July 4, 1776.  However, she became the hallmark to the people coming to the United States.  An icon of liberty and hope.  

The poem was placed at the feet of the Lady in 1903. but to the people on board the ships coming into the harbour, she was the first view they had of this new country.  The Lady holding the light of Liberty high symbolizing how liberty spread throughout the land just as light shines forth radiating through the darkness illuminating the way to the land available to all who worked and upgraded it.  

Yes, for me to see the Statue of Liberty is to stand in the feet of those people and feel and see what they endured and perceived when she came into sight.  I did this by catching the Staten Island Ferry in Manhattan and standing on its deck I would lift my eyes up to the Lady as we swept by her.  Yes, there were New Yorkers going back to their homes or to businesses on Staten Island.  But there were many foreigners on board as well.  All wanting to feel and see the same thing I did.  All wanting to experience what those before us had.  One time I was laughing for I was surrounded by a large group of Japanese.  It was enlightening and eye-opening to see this party of Japanese and their thrill and animation of seeing the Lady from the deck of the ferry.  

It was seeing this which made me realize the truth of this country I was born in and grew up in.  My country was and still is the herald of Liberty, Freedom, and Democracy.  Watching the faces and smiles of these people told me how much this statue and country mean to the rest of the world.  Even today, the Lady welcomes people to a land of opportunity and hope.  Yes, we are in the midst of a, well, rough time, but in reality, we are a young nation and the teen years are usually rather volatile and expressive.  We are learning and growing.  Expanding on our ideals of liberty and freedoms.  We move forward and like all nations/children we learn from the mistakes and failures after all how can one be perfect all the time?

Yep, I love New York City.  I love to remember my time there and my journeys on the ferry to see the Lady Liberty.  Most importantly, I love what I learned from those journeys and how I shared a very special moment with a group of Japanese upon seeing the Lady in the harbour.  I love this land, with all it's wonders, marvels, headaches, and troubles, for it was built and STILL is being built by WE, the people and that is what makes the Statue of Liberty so wondrous, for she represents us all and the liberty we seek.