"Remember who you are, make good choices." I would say to our teenage sons as they left the house to 'hang' with their friends. That's what they did you know, hang out. I'd give them a call to check on them and ask, so what are you guys doing? Their reply, "Just hanging out." So what ever that meant I felt at least the last thing they heard from me was to, 'remember who they are and to make good choices.'
In church on Sunday I was talking with a gentleman who spoke to me in Finnish, I started laughing and told him the only word I knew in Finnish was my name. He knows my heritage and he also spent two years serving a mission in Finland in 1964. He noticed my brightly colored outfit and said the Finns love bright colors. This is when I started to take an interest in what he had to say. I've always loved bright things. Yellow is my favorite color and seems the fabric I choose for my quilts lean towards the bright side.
He continued to tell me about how the Finns are a 'strong willed people' I really gave out a hearty chuckle because I've been known to be, and I quote, 'stubborn and hard headed' at times, so when I heard that the Finns are a 'strong willed people, I felt a sense of comradery. At least now when I'm accused of being
He proceeded to tell me all about the wars and how Finland remained strong and kept their independence from Russia, which boarders Finland as well as defeating the Germans. All because of their strong will and perseverance.
As he was giving me a brief history of the country my Great Grandmother and Grandmother (my name sake) were from, I started to feel a sense of pride yet sadness for never taking the time to research the history of my ancestors. The genealogy has been done thanks to my mother and father but selfishly speaking, that's where it started and ended.
What I'm trying to say, is all those years I've been telling my sons to 'Remember who they are' I've failed to take my own advice, which really isn't making good choices... now is it?
30 comments:
Well, I think you get a pass for being the parent.
I think you turned out pretty good, and I'm betting (only I don't ;O) your kiddo's are turning out pretty good as well.
BTW.. my neighbor is from Finland (100%) She married a Japanese man (also 100%) and they have THE MOST beautiful little boy. She IS strong willed, and she is quite forward, but very sweet. I love her accent. Its so funny, SHE speaks to little Roy in Finnish, and HE speaks to him in Japanese, and the outside world speaks to him in English. He's 1 1/2 & is already learning 3 languages.. Amazing!
You know, I've kind of always been afraid of wearing bright colors cause I feel like they draw too much attention to me.
Of course, when I see someone else wear them I think, "Oh i like that! I should wear bright colors more often!"
Then I change out of my red dress on put on my black one just before we leave for church because I feel too conspicuous. :D
I know very little about my roots. Yeah, I know I have a lot of Irish or Scot in me and perhaps even English, but that's about it. It would be so cool to dig into the whole geneology thing, but it seems way over my head.
BTW, I have a very dear friend from Finland. She and I have been penpals for 21 years. We have never met, but if we did I'm certain we'd feel comfortable with one another.
Good post. You gotta keep reminding kids who they are, even if you or they don't know the entirity of your family heritage or history.
~Cathy Kennedy, Children's Author
The Tale of Ole Green Eyes
Do Danish people have a knack for being stubborn? Cuz that's me too. Lots of my ancestry comes from Denmark.
This was such a cool story! So very well written. I enjoyed reading!
My 9 year old was just asking me if we could learn more about our ancestors. I never do much with family history either, because I know my brother has done a ton, and my grandpa, so I figure there's not much left to do. But I should at least learn more about them.
I always think of, The Lion King, when I hear someone say, "Remember Who You Are"! What a wonderful thing for our kids to think about. I was listening to a talk the other day and they were talking about, honoring our names, and making sure that we were doing everything we could to be good, because someday, we would have to meet our namesake and answer to them . . . :0)
What a great story! I love genealogy, not that I'm good at it - I'm terrible, but I still love it and try to work on it occasionally. I think my Swedish ancestry must have some of the Finnish, strong will genes too, because I got them!
I would love to see some of your colorful quilts!!
Hugs,
Barb
When we were teenager's my mom always said "remember who you are and what you stand for" she still does it and clearly I an no longer a teenager :)
My sister and brother-in-law have an ongoing research into our family history. I help them with what little I can do. It has been wonderful finding out about our ancestors. I enjoyed reading this post. Hugs
I'm interested in genealogy but too confused by it to put in much effort. I think it's never too late, so maybe this has peaked your curiosity at just the right time!
Reading my Family Histories has brought me such a great sense of self worth and Love. It's amazing how many traits I have that some of my 3rd great grandmothers had. It's awesome.
I think it's natural to feel bad or ashamed.. but don't. Just think of it.. as a learning experience. I think we all have to do this daily as parents..
You are so right, More people need to take a little time to really understand their heritage, My children have so much behind them and I really want them to know How on earth we ended up Here. Glad he was able to strike an interest on you.
Isn't it amazing, those things that are passed down through generations? Just start now - go find out as much as you can and make a family thing of it (no pun intended) - I bet your kids would love to know more too! :)
I was blessed to have a grandfather who was a history buff. He passed on the hand-sewn bonnet that was worn by my aunt (eleven generations ago) on her trip in the Mayflower's sister ship!
Would love to know more about your family!
But we're always discovering new ways to learn who we are, and I think you just found one, is all. The education never ends.
Forgive me for always wondering about the origin of your name, and thanks for filling me in. How do you pronounce it correctly?
Very interesting to learn more about your background! It is important to remember who we are, and what legacy we carry...
I use to tell my teens as they walked out the door to "remember who they are and what they stand for", I find that I don't say that anymore. It sure would be fun to be at a time in my life where I could figure out my background, or just work on family history.
Great advice for your boys ... I pray for my daughter everyday on the way to school to make wise choices. Navigating the teen world is so hard.
History is always interesting ... hope you find the time to discover more about your heritage. ;)
I have several books of histories that have been handed down. I hardly ever get it out but when I do I always enjoy reading it.
My parents always said, "remember who you are and what you stand for."
Great post!!
i let myself think that enough people are doing or have done the work so i just kind of forget about it. i love hearing the stories, though. love. maybe when i'm not as caught up with the well-being of my future generations (ellie) i'll start digging into the past.
I've been doing some genealogical research lately - enough to find out that I'm grateful for my family who has already done more than 89% of the work for me!!!
and bright colors are the way to go - and I don't have a Finnish bone in my body... really.
I think KNOWING your roots, and understanding that is very powerful. Developt the strong parts, temper the bad ones. I heard a saying once: "if you don't understand where you came from, how will you know where you going?"
yellow is one of my favorite colors too
It's never too late, genealogy is so important to understanding oneself. This is a great post.
My Mom would always say: return with honor when we left to hang with friends.
Write it in lipstick
I love doing genealogy and learning how much like my ancesters I am.
I really liked, "Make good choices, remember who you are." Nice one, I will have to use that.
Before you beat yourself up for not taking your own advice, remember it's never too late to embrace your heritage and learn all you can about it. The conversation with that Finnish man was just an eye opener.
I don't know so much about my roots on my dad's side. On my mom's, I know my ancestry goes back to Jessie James but as for what country our family originated, I'm not so sure. I know my grandmother was fairly large part Cherokee Indian.
Wow, makes you think. My son had cultural heritage day at school and as we were talking about it I realized he had no idea of what our heritage is.
Never too late for heritage research but point taken. It is just harder to find information easily without a few elders to point the way. By the way are you sure you were not fishing? In my experience lots of 'Fins' seem attracted to brightly colored objects too! W.C.C.
My husband went on a mission to Finland and I actually got to go there for a few hours a few years ago. I'm sure I'd turn into a popsicle if I lived there and I'm sure I'd wear bright colors to try to cheer myself up. I think it's fun that you were able to talk to someone who knew so much history. Your post was very thoughtful and gave me something important to think about too. Thanks
But how awesome to come in contact with someone who could make you stop and think about who you are. I love that "remember who you are and make good choices". I think I am going to adopt that in my home, dear. Thanks for the inspiration, as always.
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