Sheer determination

I-Newswire.com is a free press release distribution center where submission of quality press releases and news is welcomed free of charge. In this press release, Staff Sgt. Cat Casaigne explains that she was raised on the concept that in America 'hard work and sheer determination can lead to a better life'. She explains her Maltese background for I-Newswire:

My grandparents were born in Malta, a tiny island in the Mediterranean south of Sicily, Italy. My grandfather's family ran a successful hotel business and my grandfather had the benefits of privileged childhood. My grandmother's family, in comparison, was much more humble. She was one of 11 children and her father was a nurse. When my grandmother was in fifth grade and my grandfather in sixth, their childhoods were shattered. Malta, at the time an English commonwealth, entered World War II. Because of its strategic naval location, Malta would become the most heavily bombed nation ( per square mile ) of the war.

My grandmother was pulled from school and my grandfather from his tutors to run to the shelters for cover during countless air raids. Soon, all school lessons stopped and staying alive became the name of the game. Once, my grandmother was in church during an air raid. A bomb broke through the dome of the church. Luckily, it did not go off. Food was scarce. My grandmother's father would sneak food from the hospital to feed his children. Most of the time, he could only manage enough for one, which they would all split. My grandmother tells a story where her father sneaked home a cupcake and divided it into 11 pieces for the children..

My grandparents lived in Detroit, raising their children on the customs and values of a country they left behind. Always proud, my grandparents tried to teach their children to speak Maltese, but being surrounded by English they never fully spoke Maltese, though they all understood it. More than 50 years after getting off the boat, my grandparents still live in Detroit and continue to tell the same stories of hardship and overcoming adversity they told me as they cooked and walked me to school..

No, we are not monetarily rich, but we are rich in family, love and pride. As one of the oldest of their grandchildren, I am most proud of their courage. To leave family and friends for an unfamiliar land where no one speaks your language and, in the case of my grandmother, you hardly speak theirs takes courage I will never know. To never see your parents again so you can chase a dream of a better life is something I could not do. But I would never have too...