Claire Zinnecker was in a unique situation when her marriage ended. At the time she felt like she had lost everything, even her career she had built up over many years, her good health and relationships, and she was very unhappy with her lack of progress with her Height, which had been a major part of her identity. She had always been very healthy but now she was being told she was too tall for the sport she loved, a sport that required extreme strength and athleticism. Claire needed to know who she was, who she wanted to be and how could she find the answers to these questions if she continued down this path.
In the process of working towards answering the question of her Nationality, Claire came to learn that she was not only bi-national, but her father was an American, which meant her ancestry was probably English, German and possibly Spanish. She also learned that she had other grandparents, both of them Mexican, which made her more mixed heritage than she might have thought. This information was especially helpful because it meant she didn’t need to give up her goals of living the American Dream. The more she tried to fit into the mold of what society expected her to be, the further away she grew from true Americanness, and the more disappointed she got as she struggled to fit in with what she saw as the ideal American life.
In the end Claire found out that her Nationality was not a question, but a starting point for finding her own life partner. In fact her first instinct was to stay in the United States with her parents, but she quickly realized that she would never really be whole and happy in her adopted country unless she accepted her Nationality. When you accept your Nationality you are no longer defined by your nationality or your ancestors’ nationality, and you can start to live a full and rich life as every woman should. Claire began to search for someone who would understand and support her Nationality, and she found her soul-mate in Liz. Liz knew and supported Claire’s Nationality, and together they began the journey of creating a life of richness and happiness.