Re: Heritage Jenny Mon Jun 15 12:41:31 1998 Hello,*p*I think you raise a really interesting question: how important is *br*our personal heritage, and why?*p*I'm one of those split personality types you mention. <g> I know my*br*mother's family line quite well, at least for the 300 years that*br*we've been in America (I haven't been able to track down much of the*br*European material yet, but I'm working on it). Part of the reason is*br*that we've lived in one small area (Bucksport, Maine) for most of*br*that time. Therefore the family has stayed well-connected, and we*br*have a rich body of folklore and customs relating to our ancestors.*p*For instance, my full name is Jennifer Leslie Gibbons. Mom named me*br*"Leslie" because my great-great-great-grandmother was part of Clan*br*Leslie from Scotland. She didn't have any brothers and didn't want*br*to lose her family name, and so she gave one of her daughters the*br*middle name "Leslie". The custom stuck: every generation of my*br*family since then has had at least one girl in it with the middle*br*name "Leslie" (I've been succeeded by my little cousin Betsy Leslie*br*Harvey <g>).*p*But on my father's side, I can't even tell you who my biological*br*grandfather was. As I grew up, my dad told me that we were Irish,*br*and that his parents had immigrated to the US. Because of this,*br*Beltane was a big holiday in our house -- my grandparents even *br*celebrated it in the '50's, when celebrating May 1st brought you under*br*suspicions of being Communist sympathizers.*p*Whenever I asked about my father's family, my questions were brushed*br*off. It wasn't until much later that I found out why. We weren't*br*your average, stereotypical Irish-Americans. My grandparents were*br*Protestants. They despised Ireland and moved after Ireland won her*br*freedom. They didn't like their heritage: they came to America to*br*get away from it. As a result, I have a vague idea that we came*br*from County Limerick -- but little more than that.*p*But when I think about my heritage and what sings to me, I find that*br*the amount I know matters little. I think of myself as a New *br*Englander (even though I live in California now, away from most of my*br*family). I think of myself as an Irish-American. For some reason my*br*Scotch-English family line (the well-documented one) has never called*br*to me the way the Irish connection has. Perhaps it's because the two branches that matter to me were the two I lived as a child. I defined myself as Irish, as a Down-Easter. Therefore those are the two parts of my heritage I've felt drawn to explore.*p*It does make me wonder, though, about why heritage matters. Why do*br*we (or some of we, anyways <g>) feel we need it? Why do some people*br*insist that you need to have a genetic link to a religion or culture*br*to truly appreciate it? *p*Jenny Heritage Taliesin_2 14 Fri Jun 12 21:20:08 1998