Month: January 2011

I’ve been busy on the ancestry.com website, and I’ve also been on the phone with my sweet cousin Tim. He’s writing a book on our family history, and I’m curious to find out exactly who my ancestors are. In my own research, independant of my cousins work, I’ve gotten back to the 17th century. However, my cousin has reached back much farther.
My cousin, a good fellow, has been conspiring with my father on the work he’s doing. It seems that I am related by blood to five presidents of the USA, the royal family in England, and even William the Conqueror and Benedict Arnold. My family is interesting to say the least.
However, I’ve also been looking at what I inherited from my forebears… Or the begats, as I lovingly call them… I’ve inherited diabetes, asthma, mental illnes, arthritis, alcoholism and a wicked sense of humor. I have inherited a mischievous side that includes thoughts of conquering the world with yarn… *That’s where THAT came from…* I’ve inherited a love for fiber arts, and doing things the old way. Also included are my good looks and great eyes…
But is that all there is to it? In researching my family, I’ve wondered about the women in my family. Did they have the same issues I do? Did they spin for relaxation as well as the product? Did they knit, tat, weave, make lace? Did they have a broken heart, or were they resilient? I don’t know. I do know that I’m interested in learning more. I figure I’ll keep up the ancestry.com membership for a little while at least. Well, at least long enough until I run out of records to research. Then I’ll print up the works, and look at it time and again.
This also brings back memories of being tormented by my classmates as a child. We were looking into family trees back then. I had no clue of my lineage, and no way to defend myself. I remember being called a canibal for my religious belief, being teased because I wasn’t related to anyone in town, and I was treated like I was dirt many times over the years.
Knowing what I do now does not ease the pain of those years, but it does crack me up quite a bit. Makes me want to go back to that school yard, on a personal pilgrimage someday. It’s time to bury those memories, because they are not doing me any good.
On another note, two of my favorite beaus were of Royal lineage. Scandinavian and Norwegian royalty to be precise. I kept teasing them both about my being attracted to royalty…. LMAO, what a coincidence. Now the disclosure here.
There are so many decendents of the specific people that I am decended from, that all it means is I share some DNA with these people. That’s about it. Chuckle, it wouldn’t even be enough royal blood to get me access to the bathroom in Buckinham palace if I needed it. Oh well, life is too short to worry about it. I think it is time for a snack and then bed.
Take care,
A.K.