Some time ago I cancelled any television connections. I do have a smart set so there are literally hundreds of channels available for watching. Most old series, but current news is there. ‘The Antiques Road Show’, the one from Great Britain is my go to. I love seeing the places I have been privileged to visit being featured as host sites– cathedrals and castles and museums. The items brought for analysis are fascinating and there are times I wonder if any of my treasures are valuable! They’re not…

Much of my leisure watching is on my laptop, Youtube-ing my way through the hours. Here are two series that I spend much time with; ‘Who do you think you are’, and ‘DNA Detectives’. Folks searching for their family history, trying to enlarge their definition of who they are, and what in the past may be shaping them. I think I get that. My family has done a remarkable job of detailing our past. There is a modest collection of the Toews, Groening, Born and Friesen family history. I have a bit on the Martin side, my maternal grandmother’s starting point. I recognize how very fortunate I am to have known two complete sets of grandparents and one complete set of great grandparents. They were not distant beings, but story tellers and history keepers. More the grands than the great grands, but that’s pretty natural. Great grandpa Born was an intuitive gardener. At one point working in the Morden Experimental Farm, and known for embarrassing great gran when he would casually pick weeds in other’s gardens… as natural as breathing. Great gran I knew as a sitter… after carrying and bearing fifteen children, raising thirteen to adulthood, she earned the right to sit! A lot of descendants there… I heard the stories of the trauma and despair of the Russian Revolution , the murders and starvations, the immigration, the life saving work of the Mennonite Central Committee ( a school program provided half a cup of powdered milk and a bun; the bun often saved for home where it could be shared). Little wonder that the MCC still plays an important role in Mennonite life.

I came from a line of teachers and seekers, musicians and artists, homemakers of exceptional standards. Workers of land, survivors and make doers. Those early ancestors were mostly farmers with the occasional teacher/preacher. My childhood included bits of all of that. I chose not to learn how to knit or crochet, sewing was a necessary skill. We worked wool from shearing the fleece to washing, carding and creating the batting for quilts. Gardening was from planting to weeding to processing, canning before we had a freezer. And there was always books, and music.

I acknowledge that I am blessed with a fairly thorough genealogy. And yes, there are a few rascals in the batch. I have a clear understanding of my inherent values, characteristic traits and physical likeness. Much as, as a  youth I prayed to be adopted, there is my face on my great aunt on my mothers side… Now to maintain these records for the next generations…