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Daily Question, November 1

What have I received from my ancestors?

  • Cammy Montoya

    Although I come from a background of abuse I draw strength from the strength of my ancestors who were able to love despite the trauma. My grandma loved me beyond measure, even though she wasn’t treated well her entire life.

  • Elaine

    Much is unknown so left to my imagination, particularly the softer bits. I honour the pieces I do know – incredible courage, resourcefulness, ambition, commitment, fidelity. Mixed in is the less than honourable characteristics of the white colonizers.

  • Michele

    DNA:)

  • Anonymous

    Deep generational kindness and resilience.

  • SK

    💕 EVERYTHING GOOD AND POSSIBLE. They were the great cloud of witnesses that came before me; paved the way; made the way; guided me and still guide me today. I hear them. I look like them. I feel them. I am them.

  • dcdeb

    I think i have received a lot of fear denial and disassociation. But sometimes a little out of the box thinking and survival skills.

  • Zineeta

    A strong and stubborn will to push through and make any circumstance work.

  • Don Jones

    The answers to the questions, “Who am I and Where am I from?”, transcends my ancestors.

  • Linda

    The importance of doing the right thing in each situation.

  • pkr

    Grit, strength, curiosity, kindness, integrity, honesty, decency, responsible, hard working, laughter, great sense of humor, discipline, athleticism…….too bad I didn’t acquire the “cooking” gene! I am a terrible cook compared to my grandfather, grandmothers, my mom and my 2 brothers! 😅

  • Mica

    A slightly bent middle finger on the right hand? As we sat outside his front door and ate candy and gave out candy to the trick-or-treaters, my son and I discovered we have the same exact bend to the middle fingers on our right hands!

  • Beth

    The more I learn about my ancestors, I understand I come from a long line of hard working people. My parents grew up in modest homes with first generation Americans. They worked hard to rise up and moved forward to give me and my siblings the best possible life, just as their mothers did, just as I see my son doing for his family.

  • MemoPC

    Lots of things, some tangible some intangible that continue to be “sorted out”
    in me. But at the core the value of faith and family have remained.

  • Antoinette

    Everything- I have received everything from my ancestors! Now I’m letting it all go!

  • Jeff Stone

    I’ve received their strength to survive adversity and their endless curiosity that gives me my inate desire to explore the unknown.

  • Anna

    I wrote something in the Lounge, and it seems my ancestors (with a few exceptions) gave me not-so-good memories.
    This is my attitude lately.
    Maybe I need to think about this question, because if I am now a free, resilient, kind, life-loving woman, there must be a deep root.
    I have done a lot for myself, but others, who are no longer on earth and who live next to me, are interconnected with me, do the rest.

  • Nelson
    I'm Filipino-American. I'm the only first generation in my family. That said, all I know is balancing my identity between two very different, oftentimes contradicting value systems. Many people in my situation, no matter the country of origin, can identify with this dichotomy. It's just one of those things that, at best, you can just describe it. But to fully understand it and all its psychological and emotional implications, you have to live it. I appreciate my ancestors and family for putting ...

    I’m Filipino-American. I’m the only first generation in my family. That said, all I know is balancing my identity between two very different, oftentimes contradicting value systems. Many people in my situation, no matter the country of origin, can identify with this dichotomy. It’s just one of those things that, at best, you can just describe it. But to fully understand it and all its psychological and emotional implications, you have to live it. I appreciate my ancestors and family for putting me in this position. I live with this visceral understanding what it means to be a person of color and a minority in the United States. Having that level of empathy and pride provides a space for really deep, purposeful, even cathartic discussions. That space gives a lot of people the opportunity to be heard and validated. I’m glad to be part of that.

    Read More
  • Holly in Ohio
    Oh my gosh. Where do I start? As a genealogy enthusiast I have researched many ancestors and know some of the stories. I and literally MILLIONS of descendants can be thankful for an unusually lucky and industrious passenger on the Mayflower named John Howland. He was the one who was swept off the tiny Mayflower during an epic storm, but somehow managed to grab hold of a trailing rope and was hauled back on board. He came to America as an indentured servant. He survived the disease and hunger tha...

    Oh my gosh. Where do I start? As a genealogy enthusiast I have researched many ancestors and know some of the stories. I and literally MILLIONS of descendants can be thankful for an unusually lucky and industrious passenger on the Mayflower named John Howland. He was the one who was swept off the tiny Mayflower during an epic storm, but somehow managed to grab hold of a trailing rope and was hauled back on board. He came to America as an indentured servant. He survived the disease and hunger that took about half the lives of the Mayflower passengers in the first two years. By a twist of fate, he was indentured to the original governor, and that governor and the governor’s wife were childless, and died of the fever, unintentionally leaving all their wealth to this ancestor, who immediately bought his freedom with the inheritance, and then purchased land both in Plymouth, and later to the north. Lucky again. Willing to take risks and work hard to hunt beaver away from the colony to pay off the Mayflower’s debt to the shipping company, he became a man of good standing, and by the time he died of old age he was the assistant governor of the Colony, owned lots of land, and left ten healthy children and their families. Not bad for a boy who came over as little more than a slave, and now millions of us, are descended from him.

    Whether we know the stories of our ancestors or not, the stories teach the value of each life on this earth and what we do with that life. Each life has consequences, and our own life bears consequences that will reach out in time. Most of us will be somebody’s ancestor one day, and even if we are not, we still take part in this wonderful human experiment. We choose whether our life is industrious, kind, whether we help avert climate disaster or deal with it by hiding in shopping therapy, whether we stand with disenfranchised people, whether we stand for democracy. We all create this river of humanity and help to define what humanity is.

    So what have I received from my ancestors? My life, and opportunity.

    Read More
    • Mica

      Amazing, Holly! Both my parents claimed to have ancestors who came over with William Penn, but the one my dad pointed to in my family tree book had been born after William Penn died. I suppose I could look for ancestors of his with the same name! Ancestry.com likely has ‘hints’ about him that I can follow. My dad was bitter that his family had had a family tree book that someone borrowed and never returned. Isn’t it nice to have digital records of this info now?!

      • Holly in Ohio

        It is very nice. We get more information because we share with distant family members. We do have to be careful about errors getting repeated, though, so careful documentation with each step is best. I don’t do Ancestry, but instead do the free websites.

        • Mica

          I don’t have any first cousins, so I was excited to connect with some not-too-distant cousin on 23andMe a few yrs ago. She’s related to my great half aunt Ollie, who lived across the street from my grandma in a little coal-mining town in SW Pa.

  • Katrina

    Like Sunnypatti, some fears and anxieties, some strength to forge ahead regardless or in spite of circumstances, making do with and finding joy in what I have. A deep lineage in my brand of religious expression; the gift of storytelling and oral tradition. Gratitude

  • Ose
    Of course the gift of physical existence and all related inherited bodily strengths and weaknesses. The gift of healthy senses, being able to see/ perceive, to hear/listen, taste/ perceive aesthetically, feel /sense and comprehend/ recognize. They conveyed the basis, talents, emotional and mind´s tools for being able to be of service in the way I am. Deeply grateful for the richness of their heritage.Ah, and I forgot, curiosity! To understand that if people suffer, it is my deepest longing to b...

    Of course the gift of physical existence and all related inherited bodily strengths and weaknesses. The gift of healthy senses, being able to see/ perceive, to hear/listen, taste/ perceive aesthetically, feel /sense and comprehend/ recognize. They conveyed the basis, talents, emotional and mind´s tools for being able to be of service in the way I am. Deeply grateful for the richness of their heritage.Ah, and I forgot, curiosity! To understand that if people suffer, it is my deepest longing to be helping them, if appropriate and, God willing.

    Read More

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