Caroline = Irish, Scotish, Norwegian, American-Indian, American!

This morning Caroline and I were sitting on the couch, while she drank her bottle. I was flipping through the channels on tv and stopped at PBS to watch Rick Steves' Passport to Europe. I have always enjoyed this program. Growing up, I can remember sitting on the couch watching this same show with my parents. It was always fun to learn about different places and the possibility of visiting them someday...

This morning's episode was about western Ireland, an area not known much for its tourism, but rather for its rich culture, beautiful coastline and rocky mountainous areas. I was greatly intrigued by this episode. The scenery was truly breathtaking! I know our skyline in Cincinnati is lovely, but there is just something about Europe, in this case, Ireland, that is truly stunning. The way they preserve their old buildings, monuments and most importantly culture. Towards the end of the episode, it showed Irish children doing the traditional Irish dance to Gaelic music. These dances have been passed down for thousands of years. It's incredibly fascinating how they hold so strongly to their culture, in a time where technology abounds and modern ways take over. And this isn't just in Ireland, but all over Europe...

I guess you could say the reason I am writing about this in my blog is because I think culture and heritage is so incredibly important. Our past makes up who we are today. We should always celebrate this, for without it, where would we be...

Having a child, has certainly opened my eyes and made me think in a deeper perspective about many things. Regarding culture and heritage, I think that it will be very important for Caroline to know who she is and where she came from. Of course she'll know the obvious, she's an American, from Cincinnati, Ohio and her parents were born there as well. But I want her to know it goes way beyond just that.


My father, Caroline's Papa, has always been captivated by our family's heritage. He has done EXTENSIVE research about his family as well as my mother's family. He put together huge binders about their background and ancestry. Those of you who know my father, know that he can speak quite a few languages and loves to entertain people using MANY different accents. Additionally, he LOVES to talk about our family heritage. Of course, as a teenager, this was rather annoying, but he never stopped! And now, in retrospect, I'm glad he was so passionate about languages, accents and our heritage. There are a number of people I know, who have no idea where their roots came from... I am grateful to my father that that is not the case for me. I know that my father's side is from Ireland (and a few other places in there) and my mother's side is from Norway and her father's family was acutally part American-Indian (Cherokee). I know how they came to this country, where they migrated to and what they did for a living.

Our heritage and ancestors make up who we are. I am going to make sure that my little girl will always know where she came from!! Thanks to her Papa, who helped me see the way!