Years ago, divers discovered the wreckage of the Titanic on the ocean floor. There was talk of attempting to salvage it. My grandmother said it should be left alone. She said it is a tomb and should be treated with the respect reserved for a final resting-place. My family has spread out across America for three generations.
Grandmother now lives in a nursing home.
She is a great-grandmother several times over. When the family gathers, it is not always mentioned, but it is surely often contemplated. We almost never were. We almost didn't make it to the New World. We almost didn't have a legacy in America.