Sending Love
I came across this e-mail from a cousin that is timely. He is currently rebuilding after losing his house and possessions during a wildfire about a year ago in Redding, California. I'm forwarding a part of the e-mail.
"We are old but we are strong and still competent. We have and will continue to survive. I
draw inspiration from my ancestors that lived through devastating volcanic events, loss of pastures and livestock in Iceland, not to mention economic exploitation by the Danes. They traveled across the Atlantic to new nations, learned a new language, lived in small, hastily built, crude little cabins occupied by multiple families served by a single wood stove. They survived smallpox, cleared marginal land, were initially not well fed and damn near froze to death. The average family in the 1875 group brought with them an average of 6 Canadian dollars per family. And look at the contribution they made to both Canada and the United States. They were immigrants. We owe our very existence to what is now labeled “chain migration.” A major part of my self concept is that I am a first generation American (should read “citizen of the United States of America” considering that our beloved Canadian cousins are Americans also).
Annie’s ancestors arrived from Great Britain in the 1600s and settled in Massachusetts, Maryland and Virginia. Some fought in the French and Indiana Wars, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War (both sides). Some moved on to Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Kansas and New Mexico. Her family history reads like an American History textbook. She ain’t first generation. Her people traveled in covered wagons and shot rabbits for dinner. One of her grandfathers was a US Marshall in New Mexico.
I realize that much of this may not have meaning for some of you. Forgive any irrelevancies.
As usual, I could ramble on and on. The point is that we will survive as those did upon whose shoulders we stand. We have been blessed by relatively good health, material comfort, world travel and loving families. May our executive, legislative and judicial branches gain their senses and find a way to leave the door open in a legal but fair and compassionate manner
Bless all of you. Love one another. Be well and prosper."
Love,
"We are old but we are strong and still competent. We have and will continue to survive. I
draw inspiration from my ancestors that lived through devastating volcanic events, loss of pastures and livestock in Iceland, not to mention economic exploitation by the Danes. They traveled across the Atlantic to new nations, learned a new language, lived in small, hastily built, crude little cabins occupied by multiple families served by a single wood stove. They survived smallpox, cleared marginal land, were initially not well fed and damn near froze to death. The average family in the 1875 group brought with them an average of 6 Canadian dollars per family. And look at the contribution they made to both Canada and the United States. They were immigrants. We owe our very existence to what is now labeled “chain migration.” A major part of my self concept is that I am a first generation American (should read “citizen of the United States of America” considering that our beloved Canadian cousins are Americans also).
Annie’s ancestors arrived from Great Britain in the 1600s and settled in Massachusetts, Maryland and Virginia. Some fought in the French and Indiana Wars, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War (both sides). Some moved on to Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Kansas and New Mexico. Her family history reads like an American History textbook. She ain’t first generation. Her people traveled in covered wagons and shot rabbits for dinner. One of her grandfathers was a US Marshall in New Mexico.
I realize that much of this may not have meaning for some of you. Forgive any irrelevancies.
As usual, I could ramble on and on. The point is that we will survive as those did upon whose shoulders we stand. We have been blessed by relatively good health, material comfort, world travel and loving families. May our executive, legislative and judicial branches gain their senses and find a way to leave the door open in a legal but fair and compassionate manner
Bless all of you. Love one another. Be well and prosper."
Love,
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