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Our origins --- Where do you and your family come from?

Yup, the name is Irish, though I am three generations removed, still I have some Irish traits, not the least of which is enjoying a good yarn. The blood is well mixed, with German, English, Mongolian and Irish, I guess that makes me a man of the world, lol...

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I've heard it said that we all have a book inside us, and I believe it's true, especially when one look back at the family history. There are always amazing stories, especially from war and pre-war relatives.

My mother grew up in occupied Holland, and the tales I've heard about the experience are amazing. Come to think of it, they would make an exciting book. 

I know a bit about my ancestors. On my fathers side, we're mainly from Holland, so I consider myself Dutch, my last name is at least :) On my mom's side it's less-known...we're a bit British and some native american...I do know that my great, great, great, great something-or-other was an american Colonel in the Revolutionary War, however :)

Got to tell you this funny true story.

My mum was from Eindhoven, Holland, catholic, youngest of 13. In those days kids were named after their aunts and uncles.

Here, in Greece, when you have any official paper you have to give your name, your fathers full name, and your mothers full name, (because in Greece all kids are named after their grandparents, so names are constantly duplicated).

I got a parking ticket.

"Name?"

"Patricia Fenn"

"Fathers name?"

"Gordon Wilson."

"Mothers name?"

"Adrianna, Catherina, Teresa, Maria, Smits-Wilson."

The copper,  studied the small space on the ticket pad and after a moment's thought, took a cigarette packet out of his pocket, ripped the cardboard open, took the chewing gum out of his mouth and used it to stick the ciggy packet to the parking ticket. 

Then he looked me in the eyes and said...

"Can you spell that?"

That's a good tale, well told. Life has a lot of funny situations we can use in our writing. 
 
Patricia fenn said:

Got to tell you this funny true story.

My mum was from Eindhoven, Holland, catholic, youngest of 13. In those days kids were named after their aunts and uncles.

Here, in Greece, when you have any official paper you have to give your name, your fathers full name, and your mothers full name, (because in Greece all kids are named after their grandparents, so names are constantly duplicated).

I got a parking ticket.

"Name?"

"Patricia Fenn"

"Fathers name?"

"Gordon Wilson."

"Mothers name?"

"Adrianna, Catherina, Teresa, Maria, Smits-Wilson."

The copper,  studied the small space on the ticket pad and after a moment's thought, took a cigarette packet out of his pocket, ripped the cardboard open, took the chewing gum out of his mouth and used it to stick the ciggy packet to the parking ticket. 

Then he looked me in the eyes and said...

"Can you spell that?"

Such a rich set of ingredients to have in your recipe, Mariah. County Cork is where my irish side come from too, but we lost the full records in the 1906 uprising. The German side and the Irish both are Munsters (they come from the region of Munster in each of those countries). I believe one of the founders of Audi was a great uncle and we didn't find out about the Mongolian side until recently when I happen to mention to my mother I'd been watching a program on Ghengis when she told me her Mother (my Oma) was decended from the Golden Hoard. Thrilling stuff history, especially family history....lol
 
Mariah de la Croix said:

Oh... I love this, Sean.  While growing up I was one of the few kids who could rattle off my ancestry - German, French, Italian, Spanish, Scottish, Irish, English, and American Indian.  The Germanic influence was the least, but I guess I just wanted the little guy to get noticed by always mentioning that one first.  The Castillian Spanish, French, and American Indian comes from my father's side, while the Scottish, Irish, English, and German comes in from my maternal Grandma and the Italian slipped in by my mom's father.  We can trace Grandma's line back to County Cork on her momma's side and on her dad's side to Scotland and Clan Keith as far back as Robert the Bruce.  So, ultimately, when the Scotsmen of Douglas, Keith, and other noble knights, literally carrying the embalmed heart of Robert with them, united with the Castilians in Spain in 1330 against the Moors, little did they know then that they would unite, once again, in the 20th Century in the heart and blood of one such as myself.  Life is a circle.

The mix sounds very intriguing and exotic, do you dance? With those genes I bet you can't control those feet! I love Puerto Rico and Cuba - wonderful people - though it's been a few years since I visited the Caribbean. The African part would be harder to trace, any ideas which area they came from?

Y. Correa said:

Well my history is not a great, interesting and complex as most of yours. However, it's original in it's own right. I am of Puerto Rican descent. Yet, I was born and raised in the great state of New York.

Both my parent's were born and raised in Puerto Rico. My mother is from Spanish and Native Taino descent and my father descended from the African slaves that were brought to Puerto Rico by the Spanish. Our culture is a mix of Spanish, African and Native Taino (them, being the natives of both the Islands of Puerto Rico and Cuba). So, our culture is rich and proud.

Now, being also American I have the blessing of also considering that my culture as well. And it's great! I love being and American-Puerto Rican, I get to participate in the best of both worlds. I am bilingual by nature and that too is a blessing. So there, that is the story of my origin. :-)

I'm honestly thrilled by reading these posts. There is so much racism, sexism, sizeism, ageism, etc. in the world, mostly surupisiously (confused the spell-check here) media led, it's so refreshingly pure to hear people proud of their gloriously mixed ancestor-hood.

Bravo to you, me, and everyone else who rejoices in their mixed roots!

Okay, it's Christmas... and I've had a glass of sherry... but why oh why can't all the other people in the entire world celebrate the wonderful mixed ethnicity that surrounds us. I'm stricken and sickened by the conflict of race and religion that blights our incredible world.

A very happy Christmas, or whatever name others put to this holiday... or whatever is your greatest holy-day or life day celebration. The message is the same:

Peace, kindness, and good will to all men, women, and children.

Patricia, XXX 

I am originally from Nepal hehe

Nepal is cool. The Himalayas, the mountains of the gods. Excellent.


Divya Bhusal said:

I am originally from Nepal hehe

Nepal, on my wish list of places to visit.

Me too! I love mountains. One day...

Patricia fenn said:

Nepal, on my wish list of places to visit.

With a name like Spohn I knew I had a German History, but it was not until my wife started researching the family tree that I learned that thye did not go thru Ellis Island.  They had come to america long before and one ancistor was the Aid to General Washinton.  WOW that could be a story.  Then my wife is German and her parents lived a hard life befoe and after the war.  she is putting down some of her family history and I might use parts of her past in future stories.  Yes we all have pasts thta can affect the future and we need to know what elements can help us grow and become more understanding.

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