~ Ancestors ~

Blessed be my ancestors for without them I would not be here

Reviews

[emmajoy]

Your poem, set in such distinct colours and clear font really invites viewers to stay a while to appreciate what you left us. Ancestry, DNA, and more is such an adventure; am wondering if you're going to research and create a family tree? To discover your past over the ages is fascinating, and, so often the adventurer discovers connections that seem almost impossible - a fine singing voice, a fear of... etc. Love your thoughts, enjoyed your post. Thank you for sharing.

[Carola]

hi emmajoy, thanks for reading & your review.
yes i've been doing ancestor research for over 25 years now, & it's so much easier now with the internet, but still had the need to hire a genealogist on a couple of occasions.
i also did DNA testing on my parents, a cousin, & just recently my husband.
if you are considering DNA research yourself i recommend using Familytreedna in houston texas, as it has one of the oldest data bases (a big plus) 'cos the company has been around since around 2000. by oldest data base i mean people who have since died & they still have their dna results on record which other companies would not have. they also store dna samples for 25 years so you can always do an upgrade as dna technology improves, even after your relative has died.
ancestor research is both - exciting when you get a 'find' & also be frustrating when you hit brick walls. i particularly like seeing their signature on the bottom of any birth, death or marriage certificates i may find, i find that very personal.

cheerio carola

[Samuel Dickens]

Again, we share an interest. So fascinating to ponder these things, isn't it? Family bibles, letters, notes written on the back of old photos, etc, may speak to us from years past, but only if we're lucky enough to find them. (Some people hoard, don't you know) Oh, yes, what a joy it would be to sit down for a while with our long departed kin. I find this very enjoyable and well-written.

[Carola]

thanks for stopping by to comment. oh yes i can relate to hoarding, being one myself.
i think because we immigrated to australia there was only a bit of information my mother brought with us plus photos, which was passed onto me & hence piqued my interest that got me started on family history & dna testing. i think the rest must've got chucked out. of been doing it now on & off for over 30-40 years.
cheerio carola

[Samuel Dickens]

I'm the historian in my family. Growing up, I thought I had almost no kin--oh, was I wrong. The thing I regret is not being wise enough to embark upon the study sooner, when the old ones were above ground.

[Carola]

yes i can also do research at my local library & use their ancestry.com subscription, albeit a limited edition. when there, i look around at the other family historians & they all have grey hair!
in a way i can understand it, anyone younger is too busy going to work & raising a family & they haven't got the time till the family is grown up.
cheerio carola

[Wild Rose]

Questions mmm All in my writings
Family history "The Birth of an empire" stuff collected from dad's cousin & elsewhere > history books & such stuff > Historical account (facts + fiction adding as I go on)
"Harry Worth story of wartime childhood" resting just now

Drawings > paintings > Photos

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i love this... I often think of my ancestors...grandparents I never got to meet, and wish I could sit down with them for long talks.
And some I knew in my childhood days only for a short time, never getting a chance to really know them.
And I would wonder what they would think of today, and what life is like.
i grew up in the fifties...life was so totally different from now.
j.

[Carola]

both my grandmothers died when i was 15 & 21 years old, the grandfathers died much earlier.
we immigrated to australia when i was 9 years old.
i am grateful that at the insistence of my mother i did write letters to my father's mother, but for some reason i don't recall writing to my to my mother's mother, i may have done but don't remember.
in hindsight, since my interest in family history i wished i had written more, but i do still have the letters they wrote to my mother & some cards to me, but it can be quite difficult to read the old style german handwriting.
cheerio carola

[barleygirl]

Haven't seen you around, but found this in my reading list, a nice surprise! As usual, well-constructed with interesting rhymes & conversational pondering. I am catching your "pilot" influence becuz you are curious about travel in the old days. In some ways, this reveals as much about YOU as the old crusts! Sometimes it's nice to read a poem that reminds us of our humanness without requiring that we do any heavy philosophical interpretation! *wink! wink!* Hope to see more of you here in 2020?!?! (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Carola]

hi margie, thanks for your kind comments & no i'm not normally very much into heavy philosophical type poems.
as i mentioned in my bio, i frequently disappear from W.C.for months when i'm deeply engrossed in my family history & i'm on a roll, or i'm writing another poem. some of my poems prove to be difficult births ! 🚼
cheerio carola

[Robert Trakofler]

My uncle is a history nut:) he has done so much research into that side of the family I think about so much of what you just wrote. It seems so foreign to me the world they came from would I believe be just as amazing to me to witness as it would for them to see mine:)

[Jimmy Yetts]

Many valid and insightful concerns, Carola.
A thoughtful and very well-written questionnaire!

[Einstein Noodle]

great theme Carola! love the pleasing presentation ... i see the four leaf clover in the corner so am sharing a Celtic ancestry ... if i guess right ... your questioning poetry sets my mind back and forth across the ages .. my own grandparents knew the time without cars .. phones .. etc. and witnessed our man on the moon .. incredible spans of experience ... our histories give us roots and place in the sometimes chaotic times .. if we choose to let it ... i am just finishing a book .. "The Celts" by Gerhard Herm ... it attempts to trace Celtic origins through anthropology, archeology and mythic poetry from the earliest written histories around 3000 BC ... in a nutshell ... i was very surprised to learn all the tribes going back and forth and forth and back in fighting, trading and intermingling ... to finally emerge a Celtic tradition more recent ... love your poem... its healthy inquiry .. questions draw me in as i ask them myself .. wonderful colors and graphics .. just overall a memorable read for me!
E.

[Carola]

hi einstein, thanks for reviewing. the 4-leaf clover i used to represent luck in my searches, so no celtic origins, but german though.
i do spend a lot of time on family history research, been at it for probably around 30 years & had both my parents, one of my cousin's, & just recently my husband DNA tested with the 2nd oldest testing company familytreedna in houston texas.
i did have hire 2 genealogists on a couple of occasions one in germany & one in poland when i hit some brick walls. you still have to work at getting a paper trail with birth, death & marriage certificates /registrations to confirm the dna.
it's interesting & frustrating simultaneously !
cheerio carola

[Einstein Noodle]

wow! you are doing an incredible work that your whole family benefits from! One of my cousins and an Aunt have done genealogies on both sides of my families ... priceless ... you do a fine thing Carola ..but you already know that :)

[NotUsinganymore]

Very interesting post about ancestry. I don't know much about my ancestry and I probably won't be able to.

[Carola]

hi junglee, thanks for stopping by to read & comment. i feel for you regarding you family.
as i mentioned to you previously in another poem's comment, re your family, you've got to start looking somewhere.
i would do 2 things download 'Google Earth' (it's free) if you have not yet already done so, then type in your old address in n. korea into the search box & click & google earth will take you there. you can zoom fairly low & look at all the roads, houses, factories etc. just out of curiosity i had a look at the capital Pyongyang, which had quite wide roads in some parts, but amazingly for a capital city it there were not all that many cars on the roads. i guess not too many people in n. korea own cars.
the 2nd thing i would do as i mentioned once before in that other comment is to write a letter to your parents.
You've Got Nothing To Loose !!

[NotUsinganymore]

Thanks, I'll try Google Earth!