It's not dark yet, but it's getting there: An immigrant's lament

Does the welcoming, large-hearted America I immigrated to still exist?

An American flag.
(Image credit: Illustrated | iStock)

My first week in Ohio, I went grocery shopping and bought a large watermelon, along with four bags of groceries, most of them frozen dinners. I was a sheltered kid from India who hadn't learned how to cook, so those dinners and take-out meals kept me alive my first six months in America.

After I'd paid for the groceries I went to pick up those bags and couldn't lift them. There was no way I could carry them across the huge parking lot to the bus stop. In desperation, I stopped a fellow shopper, a well-dressed older woman, pointed to my bags and asked for a ride home. She looked distressed. "I'm sorry, my dear," she said. "I'm headed in exactly the opposite direction."

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Thrity Umrigar

Thrity Umrigar is the bestselling author of eight novels, including The Space Between Us and Everybody’s Son. Her latest picture book, Sugar in Milk, is a recounting of an ancient legend about immigration and the importance of kindness. She lives in Cleveland, Ohio.