We Are Family

Holy cow, I am actually posting my response to Monday Listicles on Monday! Well, it might be technically Tuesday, because it's close to midnight. Close enough, I say!

This week's topic: random family tree facts. Let's see if I can dig up a few.

1. My dad's mom is Mexican and Scotch-Irish. She's lived in Colorado her whole life. Her father died when she was young, in an avalanche. Her mother remarried, to a Mexican man, so some of her siblings are 100% Mexican.
2. My dad's dad is Mexican and Native American. His grandmother was Apache (we think), and was found by his Mexican family when she got split up from her tribe. She ended up marrying one of the sons.
3. My mom's mom (Nana) was Scotch-Irish and Danish. Her mother's family had the name Lorensen, but changed it to Lawrence when they came to the US.
4. Nana's mom was a seamstress who worked in the mills of Lowell MA when she was younger.
5. Nana's dad worked for Pratt & Whitney in Hartford CT.
6. Supposedly, Nana's Scottish family can trace their roots back to the real King Macbeth. Double, double, toil and trouble...
7. My mom's dad (Papa) was German and English (I think). His ancestors came over to the US a wicked long time ago, and settled in the Carolina area. I still have a lot of family in the Carolinas.
8. Some of my Papa's family fought in the Civil War, on both sides.
9. Papa was a Pearl Harbor survivor, and served in the Navy during WWII.
10. Nana was a secretary at General Electric, but always wanted to be a news reporter. Her father believed that women could only be homemakers, teachers, or secretaries, so she never had the chance to try for that dream. But she taught me to always believe in my dreams, and often told me to remember that I could be anything I wanted when I grew up, despite my gender.

Nana and Papa were very interested in history, and passed that along to me. Add to that my love of my family, and my genealogy has always been something I've wanted to further investigate. I would love to join a site like Ancestry.com, but they are so expensive. Maybe someday, I will spring for it, though. I also need to scan and archive all of my family's old photos. We have some gems. :) Someday... when I have more time.