Among Friends

[mstyrion 1]

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@ID2 wrote:

Nope. My parents stressed how we were Americans. I gladly really don't know anything about my ethnic background. American through and through.

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I'm a little confused.

By American through and through, do you mean your heritage is Native American?

Then you say you know nothing about your ethnic background. Really? Your family had no traditional meals? No relatives who came from somewhere else?  No family history at all?  I just find this very strange.

Anyone who is a citizen of this country is American through and through.

[Vivian]

My parents were born in the US but their parents were immigrants. Once they came to America, my grandparents never talked about the old country. They lived in an ethnic neighborhood but were not at all religious. When they came to the U.S. my grandparents' most important goal was to become American...to master the English language and become a citizen. They also wanted to insure that their children received a good education, something that would not have existed where they came from. All my grandparents reached those goals. I'm very grateful for all their hard work, creating a good life for their family and the generations that followed.

[Kalli]

Three of my 4 grandparents were Irish.  My other grandparent was Austrian and came from a Jewish family.  She told my mom she was born in Austria but that's never been proven.   She converted and married my Catholic grandfather.  She spoke German but never tried to teach any of us.  I've often wondered how many of her relatives didn't survive the Holocaust.

There are 2 castles in Ireland said to be associated with my maiden name.  I'd love to visit Ireland and Austria someday.  

[jaxs mom]

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@ID2 wrote:

Nope. My parents stressed how we were Americans. I gladly really don't know anything about my ethnic background. American through and through.

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I don't understand being glad that you don't know anything about your ancestry. 

[NoelSeven]

I don't understand it, either, or the idea that immigrants can only do one thing.  Either celebrate their ethnic heritage OR teach their children and give them a good education.  

Mine did both.  And I have passed down our Welsh heritage from my father's side to my daughter, and my mother's Irish heritage.

[Moonchilde]

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@JAXS mom wrote:

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@ID2 wrote:

Nope. My parents stressed how we were Americans. I gladly really don't know anything about my ethnic background. American through and through.

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I don't understand being glad that you don't know anything about your ancestry. 

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Plus "being American" is an amalgam of the history, customs and outlook of many countries and cultures. We are "American" by being part of that amalgam. Our culture doesn't exist in a vacuum, we change and add over yhe decades and centuries, all due yo the immigrants who are still coming to our shores.

Living here shapes who you are and what you may become, but knowing where you "came from" ethnically and culturally tells you a lot as well - not least, in some instances, about the possibility of inheriting certain medical conditions, if nothing else.

Learning about one's ancestry doesn't mean you have to become that stereotype, love all the food, or take on the sociological burden of whatever was done in the past; it's just interesting.

[NoelSeven]

I was thinking about the benefit of knowing medical issues because of our ethnicity, also.

[Pearlee]

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Newgate wrote: My father did attend the weddings ...

Did he give you a house next door as a wedding gift? 

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[Newgate]

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@Pearlee wrote:

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Newgate wrote: My father did attend the weddings ...

Did he give you a house next door as a wedding gift? 

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No, we moved to a different city!!  But we came to visit often and now that he has been gone for many years I wish we had him back along with all his stubborn ways!!  He was a wonderful, hardworking man who just loved his family!!