RP4: Where'd I Come From?

In our small group discussions in Thursday’s class, Thania, Sam, Yaneli and I ended up discussing our family histories. Specifically, we talked about how our families got to the US. It got me thinking about the Roots and Routes assignment we did at the beginning of the quarter. I titled it “I Feel Like I Should Know More About Where I Came From” and now that’s shifted to “I Wish I Knew About Where I Came From And How They Got Here”.

My mom’s dad’s (Grandpa) family came to the US from Ireland in the 1840s or 1850s during the potato famine. From what I understand, they were in New England for awhile before they settled in Traverse City, MI and started a cherry orchard. The orchard was in the family for over a century, but it was sold off a few years ago. I don’t know very much about my mom’s mom’s (Grandma) family, only that they came over from the Netherlands around the same time. Both of my mom’s parents came from strictly Catholic households, but they ended up breaking away from that and went in a more Protestant direction, which apparently caused some tension for quite some time. 

My dad’s dad’s (Grandpa Robert) family came from Rochlitz, Germany in the 1860s (I think) and were some of the first European settlers in Nebraska. I don’t know too much beyond that. Our family still owns the property Grandpa Robert was born on and I think that had been the family farm for awhile before that. My dad’s mom’s (Grandma Ople) family came from Norway. Beyond that, I really don’t know too much. We do go to the Rochlitz reunion, but I don’t think I ever met anyone from Granma Ople’s family.

I don’t really know as much about either of my grandma’s families, to be honest. Grandma didn’t talk about her family much and once I was old enough to get more curious, she had gotten Alzheimer’s. Grandma Ople talked about her family sometimes, but I always got the feeling that there were some unresolved tensions there. So I ended up knowing more about Grandpa and Grandpa Robert.

Something I’m grappling with is how assimilated the different branches of my family are. I mean that in the sense that I don’t know Gaelic, Dutch, German, or Norwegian and that we don’t practice any traditions from Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, or Norway. I wonder what it must’ve been like for the Irish branch of the family dealing with the social stigma towards the Irish and the German branch during the World Wars. Like, that must’ve been hard. But we don’t really have much to go on from back then, in stories or in journals and whatnot. I wish we did though.