How far do the influences of our ancestors reach? Do you have to have known family members in order to be shaped by them? Or do long-dead, distant relatives cast a long shadow into today?
After two years of research on my mother’s side, I knew enough about the “characters” in that part of my family and their “characters” to write this:
These are the influences on each generation stepping forward: values taught by and absorbed from parents, plus others assimilated from life experience. What imprints on us is what we teach our children. And so it goes.
I reached two generations back from my mother to highlight the strongest and best traits that I saw running down the direct line to me. This is what I found in many of the ancestors, and what I hope imprinted on me:
- Courage.
- A sense of humour.
- A strong work ethic.
- The ability to love fiercely and defiantly.
I’ve just realized that three branches of my family tree – one on my mother’s side, two on my father’s – originate in the Alsace region. (See the chart Alsace Lines.) What kind of imprint might come from this? Or the experience of being marked as “different”, whether Hungarian (on my mother’s side) or Mennonite (on my father’s). What about skills and aptitudes? On the Granger side, for example, we have what I think is a disproportionate number of aviators!
And if you don’t do research and identify ancestral traits and influences, do they still play out in your own life? I think they do.
What do you think?
Interesting – I hadn’t thought of this before. In fact, lately I have been feeling sad about lost qualities of gone relatives – for example, the other day I mentioned my grandmother, and my daughter asked what she was like, and it made me sad to think she won’t know her or get any of her wisdom.
It’s cheering to think that perhaps I can pass on some of her style and sass not necessarily by telling stories about her, but just by being LIKE her – by emulating her best qualities and stealing some of her awesome catch phrases, the model of her will go into my kids after all. Lovely!
Yes, I think this is a great way to keep memories alive for the next generation! I am often quoting my mom or grandmother to the boys – they each had a healthy dose of sass and some awesome catch phrases. Makes me think I should cultivate the same, so I have a similar legacy!