1. Maxine Clark
College 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 earth tones
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. Nana and Grandad

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.

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.   

+ =

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.

21. 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.

23. 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.

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

26. My old house
19 Deerhurst, Stanshawe
Estate in Yate

27. 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.