Mael Glennon was born in 1971 as the firstborn American in his family. His mother was born in Belgium, his father in Ireland, his oldest brother in Uruguay, and his second oldest brother in Peru. The epitome of a diverse family, the Glennons have shown that immigration belongs in the United States of America. Glennon never felt like an outcast navigating growing up in the United States with an immigrant family.
“I never felt that “Americans” didn’t like us or didn’t want us around,” said Glennon, “even though we were obviously different, both my parents had very heavy accents, we seemed to blend in with everyone else.”
His brother, Brendan Glennon, explains the likely difference in Mael Glennon’s experience growing up versus his own.
“Mael grew up differently, where he was immersed in a single, continuous culture. I couldn’t tell you which is more desirable or whether he feels deprived of some family experience,” said B. Glennon.
M. Glennon adds onto this statement.
“I support there is feeling that I missed out on some of the family experience. I have never been to South America and never experienced the full emersion of the culture,” said M. Glennon.
As an adult, Mael no longer has interest in traveling to South America. Instead, he would rather spend time in Ireland and Belgium to discover more about his family’s history.
In their home growing up, the Glennons spoke in three languages.
“My parents spoke to each other in Spanish. The boys would speak with our mother in French and we’d speak with our father in English,” said M. Glennon.
B. Glennon brings forth a significant difference between the world when M. Glennon grew up verses himself.
“Mael was born in Tucson, Arizona as the [Vietnam] war was ending so did not have the same foreign past that I share with his brother,” said B. Glennon, “By the time Mael was in high school, the memories of Vietnam and its cultural and political baggage were largely forgotten.”
M. Glennon explains how this, as well as his parents growing up during World War Two in Europe, affected him.
“I do believe our sense of security and safety was maybe not as strong. A sense of peace was not easy to accept,” said M. Glennon.
Although being the only one of his family members to spend his whole life in the United States, Mael Glennon does not feel that he doesn’t fit in with them. Instead, it has been an experience of learning and immersing himself in multiple different cultures.
