This? This post that you're reading right here, is number 250!
I love that it's a Listicle.
This week's prompt was chosen by Ms. Mamalog and it's a doozie! She asked us to come up with 10 tidbits from our family tree.
Hmmm....
I can imagine my family members squirming in their seats.
Mwahahaha!
Lucky me, it just so happens that I got to attend a cousin's wedding this weekend where I saw most of the paternal side of my family and did a little recon.
Mwahahaha!
Here is what my immediate family tree looks like:
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To clarify, this is my immediate biological family: My grandparents and my parents and their siblings.
1. My father's mother, Dolores, whom we fondly refer to as "Dode", is actually really into genealogy. As far as I know, she has tracked our ancestry back centuries. It seems to mostly lead back to England. I think Grandma Dode's trove of information is mainly names, places and dates, not so much anecdotal. So I will only be able to share with you what I know about my family.
2. My paternal grandparents are Wally and Dode who had 5 children, 4 boys and 1 girl. Their names are Scott, Mark, Renee, Randy and Clay. Randy is my father. My Grandpa Wally and uncle Clay have passed away.
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| My father and grandmother |
3. My maternal grandparents are Paul and Joyce who had 3 children, 2 girls and 1 boy. Their names are Dawn, Deanne and Scott. Deanne is my mother (pronounced Dee-anne).
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| My grandma Joyce Update: Dear Jen, the family name on my moms side is Littlejohn - He was given a land grant by the King of England in the new world in the 1600's. He came from Scotland and was Robin Hood's partner in crime. Believe me they were beyond fit, the movies make them look ridiculous. There are quit a few in our country's history too, like Danial Boon or was it Davie Crockett? My aunt has a book she is going to leave to me. luv Grams |
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| My mother |
4. I have two uncles named Scott and an uncle named Mark, which is my husband's name.
5. All these aunts and uncles married and had 2-4 children each, for a grand total of 14 cousins. One I have never known and one died of SIDS. They are made up of 7 girls and 7 boys. This sounds all even-steven like, but growing up, I was surrounded by mostly female cousins.
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| Grandma Joyce, mother, aunt, me, cousin and my daughter |
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| Grandma, dad, my family, aunts, uncles and cousins on dad's side |
6. Many of us cousins are now married and having children too. My and my cousins' children number 13 so far.
7a. It seems that my grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles all got married and had children pretty young by today's standards. At the wedding I just went to, I found out that one of my grandmothers and most of my aunts were pregnant on their wedding days. So was my mother, who was only 16.
7b. I was conceived in Lake Tahoe, born in Washington state where I lived for 12 years, moved to Lake Tahoe where I lived until I was almost 20, and now I live in Washington state again.
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| My mom holding baby me |
8. The wedding we just went to was for a cousin we didn't know until we were adults. My uncle Mark didn't know. Interesting thing is, this cousin's mother named him exactly the same name as my aunt Renee named her son, first AND middle names, without either of the moms knowing.
9. I haven't seen or spoken to my mother's father I think since my high school graduation, nearly 20 years ago. He upset me regarding my graduation, then he divorced his second wife whom we all loved and then he just sort of went away. He is bipolar.
10. Have you noticed that I haven't mentioned any siblings of mine? That's because I am an only child. Even though I had young parents who could have easily had more children in each of their second marriages, they didn't. I have had some angst over this my entire life. I'm trying to get over it. Really, I am.
"Our most basic instinct is not for survival but for family. Most of us would
give our own life for the survival of a family member, yet we lead our daily
life too often as if we take our family for granted."
~ Paul
Pearshall
