Susan Saulny

I try to not be judgmental about anything.

Right.

Different time, different place, harsher, much harsher circumstances than I've ever faced.

And what I appreciate that my grandfather did, he modeled a kind of composure and grace and dignity that we don't see enough of these days.

He could have been bitter and angry.

He could have taught us to hate people.

but he was just a very humble, working-class man.

He came home tired and dirty with brick dust all over him.

But I don't know if you saw the picture of him walking my mother down the aisle in the article in a tuxedo.

He looked absolutely regal to me.

So I think the lesson he tried to teach the family was it matters what society takes from you, but they cannot take away your dignity.

He was

Lost brothers and sisters, lost his parents.

Grandfather rejected him.

They never took away his spirit, his ability to create a loving family or his dignity.

And that's what I choose to focus on.

Right.

I think the story struck a chord because it's about universal themes of longing for a better life, longing for a more prosperous future for your children, longing for home and identity.

It hit

And you can see how each character, in whatever flawed way they may have attempted, they were forced by a society that was incredibly unfair to them to make some really hard choices to try to provide those things that we often take for granted today.