“Blood is thicker than water,” was one of my maternal grandmother’s favorite sayings. Family was everything to her. She was extremely proud of her Southern and Irish roots, and often shared tales—possibly apocryphal—of the family history. We are blessed to have many heirlooms and photographs that breathed life into her tales of those long-ago family members. I never knew my great-grandmother, but I was brought up on stories about her beauty and grace. I loved to admire her portrait, and to play under the intricately carved table that had come down to my grandmother through her, part of a set that’s been in the family longer than anyone can remember.
I internalized the stories and the reverence for the past and felt its influence on the present. And when I grew up I became interested in my father’s side of the family as well, and conducted lazy internet genealogy research to learn more. I’ve built a family tree that goes back many generations on both sides, and have learned that my roots are not only Irish but English, Dutch, and German as well.
Family heritage encompasses many things. Families pass down language–my Alabama roots are four generations back now but in my family we still use some expressions that are not native to East Tennessee. Families pass down heirlooms like the table and chairs I mentioned, the prie-dieu on which my great-grandparents knelt to be married, the silver coffee and tea service. Families pass down genetic material, as I think you can see in the comparison pictures of my youngest child and her great-great-great-great grandmother below. And families pass down religion.
Read the rest at Everyday Ediths.
Catholic Heritage
