Ancestors
May 19, 2009
Rebekah’s latest interest is researching our family trees. Like most of Rebekah’s interests, it has passed rapidly from the “intrigued by” to the “obsessed with” phase, where it will likely remain for a while before either settling down to a steady interest (like birdwatching) or be discarded (like tai chi).
The catalyst for this particular interest was a book of old family photos which resurfaced recently. I looked through them with her, and as usual, found myself both captivated and unsettled by staring at these frozen moments from nearly a lifetime away. It is truly humbling to think how wide the gulf of time yawns before and behind each of us.
Anyhow, Rebekah has been digging into our respective ancestries, and discovered some cool things. On her side, she has discovered a distant relation to America’s 14th President, Franklin Pierce – historically considered one of America’s least effective presidents – and unearthed some other truly remarkable or eccentric individuals. My favorite of these would have to be a phrenologist named Elvira.
I intended to go into more detail, but Clementine has just crawled up on my lap, grunted a little, groaned a little, jabbed me repeatedly with her stiff paws, and settled in for a nap, so I am signing off to snuggle her.
