Hope is a very powerful thing.  Without it, life for some is almost not worth living.  I have been very lucky to have been able  to travel a great deal, quite often on business but mainly for pleasure. Each time I have visited New York, if I have had time, I have joined one of the many boat trips that take tourists out to see  Ellis Island and an up-close look at the Statue of Liberty.

Each time I see Liberty standing guard as she appears to do, I think of the many millions of people, weary and scared as they neared the end of their long journey, seeing her for the first time.  Some refugees, fleeing from persecution;  some emigrants, escaping extreme poverty and hardship and I think of the hope she must have given them, as they sought a new life for themselves and their families.