“Abby, are you even listening?”

Abby shuffled the paper she had been doodling on and looked up. “Yes, Mrs. Sherman. I was just deciding what I would write about.”

Mrs. Sherman sighed and went back to whatever she'd been talking about.

The truth was, Abby had stopped listening a while ago. She hated the whole idea of the new assignment.

This creative writing class was not nearly as exciting as she had hoped when she'd signed up. Well, that wasn't exactly true. It was probably exciting if you had exciting things to write about.

Abby did not.

“All right, since you all understand the assignment, I'll let you get started.” Mrs. Sherman went back to her desk and sat down. “This should be a fun project for everyone!”

Abby snorted. The assignment was to write about your family history. Abby looked around the classroom. She could see that her classmates were excited.

The room was buzzing as everyone shared stories with each other. As she listened to them talk, she grew jealous of their family histories.

Roberto’s dad was from South America. Roberto was talking about his family's journey to the United States. It took them two years to get to the United States. Roberto had so many stories to share about what they went through.

Diya was talking about her family’s traditions. Her family celebrated Diwali, a holiday Abby had never heard of. It sounded like a lot of fun. They celebrated it over five days. Each day had its own traditions. It was a festival of lights. The holiday was celebrated with a lot of candles. They had all kinds of sweets and treats and tables full of different foods. There was even a day with fireworks. Kind of like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Fourth of July—all at the same time!

Jamal was eager to start writing about his grandfather, who was a war hero. He had been injured during the war. Even though his grandfather was hurt, he still saved the lives of two other people. He received medals when he got home.

Nellie's family came to America on a boat. They came through Ellis Island in New York. Everyone had just learned about Ellis Island and how it was a major immigration center in the old days. The kids gathered around Nellie when she started telling her story.

Abby had no interesting stories to share. How could she make a boring story into something fun? Worse, the assignment wasn’t going to just be turned in to the teacher. The class had been told they would be reading their papers in front of everyone.

Abby knew her classmates were going to be so bored when she read her paper.

That afternoon, Abby walked home thinking about her assignment.

Her mom's parents were from California. They had been in the United States for a long time. Before that, her family was from England. There was nothing interesting about how they came to the United States.

Her great-great-grandmother came over with her whole family when she was nineteen. She met Abby’s great-great-grandfather when she first got to the country.

He had been talking to the new passengers and writing down their names when they arrived. They liked each other.

He got her family a place to stay. Soon, the two of them started dating.

The next year, they got married. That was it. Pretty basic compared to the other kids in class.

While she knew about her mom’s parents, she didn't know anything about her dad's.

The more Abby thought about it, the stranger that seemed.

Had they died? Did they die when her dad was young? Maybe he didn't know much about them.  

But, if that were true, who raised him? Why didn’t her parents ever talk about them?

All kinds of thoughts went through Abby’s head. She started making up reasons why no one ever talked about her dad's parents.

Were they abusive? Did her dad have a bad childhood? That would be so sad.

Abby wondered if her dad had been raised in foster care by many families.

At dinner, Abby’s mom asked why she was so quiet. She shrugged and continued eating.

“Everything OK at school?” 

Abby stopped eating and looked at her dad. “Dad, where are your parents from? How come we never talk about them?” 

Abby’s dad quickly looked up from his plate. “What? What brought that up?” 

"I have an assignment at school. We have to tell a story about our family’s ancestry... where we come from," said Abby. 

Abby’s mom and dad exchanged glances.

Abby’s mom answered in a way that seemed too happy. “Well, did you know that your great-great-grandmother came over to America from England? She met your great-great-grandfather as she was filling out her paperwork!” 

"Yes, Mom, I know." Abby looked back at her dad. "Where are your parents from? I don’t know anything about them. I don’t know anything about your side of the family at all.”

Abby’s dad was now focused on his plate. “Well—they live across the country in Virginia.” 

“They’re alive?!” Abby exclaimed. “Why don’t we ever talk to them? My friends have grandparents that live all over the place. They always talk to them. Why don’t we?”

Abby’s dad didn’t say anything. He just kept eating. 

“Not everyone gets along with their parents, Abby,” said Abby’s mom. "Enough of this. Let's get dinner cleaned up. Then I'll see what I can find for you about your great-great-grandmother's trip from England!”

Abby’s mom got up and started clearing the table. Her dad got up and headed to his office.