My family crossed an ocean to make their lives here in Canada ... I now cross an ocean to visit my son.

Both my parents, Sarah Portnoy and Morris Dudeck, came to Winnipeg from Europe as children, arriving with their parents and siblings in the early 1900s. Speaking no English, their families settled in the Jewish area around Selkirk Avenue, where they lived near their extended families and landsleit. Sarah and Morris met many years later, and married in 1939.

I was born in 1941. When I was two years old, my parents bought their first house, right next door to my maternal grandparents on Anderson Avenue. I grew up with my sister, Fraydel Yamron, and brothers, Joel and Ian, in an environment showered with love and steeped in traditions. We enjoyed a rich childhood in our own little Europe.

Poland, Russia, Germany and the Ukraine were the original homes of our neighbours. Although English was now everyone's public language, we heard a variety of accents and many other languages as well. We visited each other's homes, learned about each other's customs and holidays, ate each other's foods, celebrated each other's joys, commiserated with each other's sorrows, and of course, witnessed a very strong work ethic.

Moving ahead to 1975 - I was a teacher and my son Allen was five, so we began to travel. Summers were spent exploring Canada and parts of the United States. Winter vacations were often spent in Mexico. It came as no surprise when, after graduating from university, Allen, like so many of his contemporaries, wanted to expand his world. He visited Asia and Australia, lived and worked in China for five years, attended school in Switzerland, and currently pursues a work related life in Europe and Asia, interacting comfortably with friends and colleagues from a large variety of ethnic origins.

It seems that we have come full circle. It is fulfilling for me to see my son living his life based on the same philosophy of family love, acceptance of others and hard work that were the cornerstones of my upbringing.

At the same time, I do have some concerns. While many of our children continue to integrate into various cultures, balancing between roots and wings, there is a growing undercurrent of anti-Semitism in many parts of the world. Will they be safe out there?

We must be realistic about the attitude toward Jews in the world, but at the same time, we must not become insular. I believe we all must work diligently in our homes and in our schools to help our children be aware that there are more similarities than differences among the people of this world. We all must build on these similarities and remember that we need each other.