1. Maxine Clark
Creative Writing Seminar
Visual Narrative Essay
A Little Pith and Vinegar for
the Melting Pot

2. Like most British kids, my only
knowledge of America was
drawn from movies and
television programs. We had
three channels to choose
from: BBC1, BBC2 and ITV.

4. Rainy Sundays often found us
watching dusty old Westerns.
Seeing all of that sand, the
canyons and earthtones made
my tongue dry up like clay.

6. My imagination went wild at
the prospect of a new life in
America. What I didn’t take
into account was all that we
would leave behind.

7. Cousins

8. My paternal grandparents
didn’t take the news well. I
was particularly sad to leave
them because they lavished
gifts on us, like this fan and
castanets from one of their
trips to Spain.

9. Grandparents

10. My father insisted that we not
smile in our passport pictures. I
couldn’t help it! He had to keep
feeding more and more money
into the coin slot. He was not
pleased.
I was primed for a perfectly
despondent shot.

12. When I said goodbye to my
hamster Christmas, she bit my
fingertip. I couldn’t believe my own
hamster had rejected me.
I left my toy dog Cokey in our old
house for the new people and
immediately regretted it.
The day was off to a bad start.

13. Cokey Christmas

14. My brother and I were invited
up into the cockpit and given
honorary British Airways
Junior Jet Club passbooks to
enter our future British
Airways trips. Of which there
would be none.

15. My gear on
the flight

16. On the drive from the
airport, I continued to
retch while taking in the
sights of Route One out
the side window. Past
the Hilltop with its
plastic cows grazing the
side of the highway . . .

17. Within mere hours of arrival, I
realized we could very well starve
to death. We were offered Dr.
Pepper or Ginger Ale to drink but
they were “too spicy” for our
bland palates.

18. Palate Attack!
  

+ = Weird and Gross

19. Letting go was hard and I
missed England for a long time.
I felt like I was always drawing
comparisons between English
and American culture and
choosing sides.

22. On September 23, 1994 in
Concord, NH I was sworn in as an
American citizen, when in
actuality, becoming an American
has been a gradual process
occuring over the course of my
life here.

24. My husband and I were married
in the Rose Garden at Lynch Park
in Beverly on a beautiful June
day in 1999. We’ve been to
England together. Twice.
We’ve also been to Disney
World. Four times.

26. We bought our home in the
same neighborhood my family
moved to back in 1978.

27. My old house at
19 Deerhurst,
Stanshawe Estate
in Yate
Our comparatively
palatial estate in
Beverly

28. Our daughter was born in
December 2003, and at eight
years old, she is now attending
the same school I did when I was
her age.

30. I finally feel like this is where I
belong.