My grandfather came to this country with almost nothing. He left his wife and son behind in Eastern Europe as a result of religious persecution in the early 1900s. He worked as a carpenter for a number of years before being able to bring his family to the U.S. They were poor where they came from and poor here also. Despite their poverty they would not accept offers of help; for example, when neighbors would offer them Christmas baskets, they would refuse them. My father was the only one of their five children who pursued an education beyond high school. He was determined to become self-...