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There is a story about the 18th century Irish and Scottish immigrants who boarded masted ships, and reluctantly left their old world homes for the United States.
It has been said that as some of them trudged up to the ships which would ferry them to the new world, carrying everything of value they owned in canvas bags, that among those possessions was a ball of twine. As they prepared to climb the ladder which ran up the side of the ship, they handed the end of the twine to a relative on the shore.
Having boarded their assigned ship, Liam or Celeste or Annie, as the case may be, waved a final 'goodbye,' the sails were turned towards the wind, and the ship sailed slowly out of the harbor.
Now, the twine began to play out, and as their relatives on the beach seemed to grow smaller and smaller, the ball of twine grew smaller in proportion to the distance from the beach.
And now, the end of the twine slipped from the spool, and dropped listlessly into the ocean, their relatives on the beach still holding the last connection the fearless immigrants had maintained with all they had known and loved all their lives.
by William McDonald, PhD
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