“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” – Emma Lazarus, The New Colossus
Climbing to the crown of the Statue of Liberty was on my bucket list for decades. To be sure, there are a vast number of experiences on that bucket list, but for some reason, this climb up the Statue of Liberty was high on the list.
I had tried for decades, both when visiting the New York area and during the years when I lived nearby. I had visited Liberty Island a few times, been on ferries and boats in New York Harbor but there was always something preventing the climb inside the statue: renovations of the site, sometimes my own family commitments or health challenges. Heartbreakingly, the events of September 11th, 2001, kept the statue closed for three years, and the crown closed for nearly eight. After a year long renovation, it reopened once again in 2012, only to close again the day after its grand reopening due to damage from Hurricane Sandy. Some six years later, all the stars aligned, and this long-awaited trip happened.
There are 377 steps to the crown, divided into two parts, 215 steps to the pedestal and an additional 162 to the crown itself. An elevator is available to avoid the trek to the pedestal, but that final ascent is a double-helix spiral staircase with narrow and steep stairs, and low head clearance. The statue is not air-conditioned and the interior temperature can be 20 degrees higher than that outside. Since tickets must be purchased far in advance, there is no prediction of the weather on the day that you will attend.
The stars really did align, because on the day we attended and after a stretch of brutally hot June days, the temperature outside was in the low sixties. During the climb, the sky was overcast without the sun baking the structure. Later it became one of those days in New York Harbor where gentle breezes were blowing, the sun was sparkling on the water and everything seemed a bit magical.
The climb was not easy. There were moments that I was questioning exactly why this was on my bucket list, until we arrived at the crown, a place where we could only spend a short amount of time. The Statue of Liberty, from the base to the tip of the crown is about 305 feet. Standing in the crown, looking out over that harbor, where countless people made their way to America, including my own ancestors, I was brought to tears.
I remembered the stories of the struggles of my grandparents in their early years in this country, escaping from the unrest in Eastern Europe, trying to create a new life for their children. What might they have imagined as their ships entered New York harbor and the statue towered before them?
The hard work of my parents, and my own, had brought me to a place where I had both the opportunity and the absolute privilege to have a bucket list and be able to fulfill part of it on this day. The brief stop we made at Ellis Island that day only reinforced and reminded me of the challenges and struggles that make people leave their home country and come to a place where the Statue had symbolized the freedom to “breathe free.”
The desire for a better life that my grandparents had more than a century ago is not so different than that of people now. We are all the children or grandchildren of immigrants, unless your people were indigenous to this country, something that seems forgotten for much of the country, and perhaps the world. The Statue of Liberty is not just a statue, but a symbol of the freedom and opportunity that every human desires.
There are moments that will stay with you for a lifetime. In my mind’s eye, I can still see that view, still feel the accomplishment of climbing up there. But most of all, I honor all those who came before me, giving me the opportunity to live my own dreams. This is something that every human deserves.
