An Alternate Past

After WWII was over, my maternal grandfather had to do his national service. He served in the air force. He, along with a friend (I don't know his name), were offered jobs in America by Boeing to help them design their planes. My grandfather stayed but this friend went and they continued to keep in touch over the years. I do wonder though, what would have happened if my grandfather had gone. In the books on the course there have been examples of families split across multiple countries, including One Hundred Million Hearts (Japan and Canada) and The Orange Trees of Baghdad (Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, UK, Canada.) Here is my imagining of the way things may have turned out.

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My grandparents decide that they are going to go to America. They get married in a small church in Woking. Whilst they are glad to be living together on their own, they're nervous about moving to a new country.

Eventually they arrive and they find a place to rent. My grandfather goes to work for Boeing and in the meantime they have three children Michael, Denise, and Paul who my grandma stays at home to raise.

They have a happy life and Denise is the last to leave home. She decides to visit her family in England and travel around Europe. On the island of Majorca, she meets a man named Donald. They are soon married and decide to set up home in London.

Denise and Donald have two children, Francesca and Benjamin. They have regular contact with their family in the US. On September 11th 2001 several terrorist attacks occur in the USA. The family is in shock. Michael was working in the south tower. The planes used are Boeing planes. The company that brought them to the US in the first place, is now a cause for grief in the family.

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I know this is a very rough outline but I have a word limit. I also realise that my parents meeting is unlikely in this context but without them an imagined alternate past for my family would be pointless. It’s interesting to see how one decision could potentially change so many things. I am reminded of the part in Nadir’s book just after her parents have gotten married and her aunts want them to move to Iraq. How different Leilah’s life would have been if they had.