before america was founded, my ancestors were from the west indies, west africa, and scotland on my moms side

on my dads side, we are only aware of the west african ancestry

I have never been to any of these places although my parents traveled quite a bit and did visit both west africa and west indies, they said it was very 'communal' and welcoming and felt like home

they said the people were very well educated compared to what media tends to show, spoke better english than most americans plus a few other native tongues and had GREAT respect for the seniors

old school values have been passed down in our family, where the elders have the authority and the wisdom and deserve the respect and children are to show reverence towards elders,this included elder siblings who were responsible in the parents absence for looking after the younger siblings,

it is also passed down that the adults are meant to care for the children regardless of biological connection and children are not to be the adults 'friends' or 'equals' , but are meant to have peers of their own age and interests and stay out of 'grown folks business'

my favorite relatives were my grandparents, they were so wise and classy and still managed to be so humble in their treatment of others...I have the stereotypical sweet old grandmom and my granddad was a baker who made the best doughnuts EVER and always gave us kids the doughnut holes,,,


My favorite stories are the ones about overcoming adversity from strangers AND ourselves,,,whether it was our great great grand pa killing some klansmen wanting to run him off his land or whether it was my grandmom recalling when one of her aunts would not let another aunt come in her home because she was of a darker skin tone


our family song was 'aint no stopping us now' from mcfadden and whitehead, it was always a message in our family about choices( we always have them even when they arent desirable) and consequences and how stumbling blocks can be made into stepping stones if we change our approach to the problem,,,

My mother and her people harken from Cork, Ireland...they came out here on a boat in the early 50's...part of the 10 pound pom emmigration programme.


My father's people come from Scandinavia...


....but I come from here...Australian, dinky di, ridgey didge aussie...

On my dad's side,is German, Irish, and English, though no real info. I need to sit down and research it all.

On my mom's side, My Grandad was born in Scotland, and my Grandmother in the Isle of Man. So heavily Scottish and Manx. I still have family in Scotland and Mann, and hope to see it soon. 2nd generation American, and 1st generation Texan

Half French/Irish. Half German. I have never felt the urge to invade my neighbors.

English, Irish, Scots, both sides.
Mormon pioneers.

French and Greek.... So I'm a Freek!

New Years day, My father would bake a traditional Greek cake with powdered sugar on top. A silver dollar inside would decide who would be lucky that year... This after a fantastic brunch.

Mom's side is Irish mostly with some Apache

Dad's side is coon-azz & Cherokee

I got to go to my grandpa's house in Florida where I was born and meet him. He took me to the room I was born in and told me the story about that night including where every piece of furniture was, what everyone was doing, and how excited my dad was to be the one delivering me!

Not sure about tradition, but the drive to work hard, enjoy little things in life, love deeply and have some forgiveness in your heart so that you are a functional, decent human being.

Gramma will always be my favorite. Dad was a rebel with a wild streak so there are plenty of stories about him! I don't think I have a single friend in RL that doesn't have a Jaime's crazy daddy story...LOL :)

Thanks, everyone! I am becoming interested in doing a little more research into my own heritage and find it fascinating to hear about others.

celt & german

and some spanish in there too (spanish from spain)

and yes, I have been to Germany

but not the UK or Spain

we have way too many family stories to share here - my family originally settled in the mountains in NE Pa. and farmed there (mother's side) - they were methodist

my father's family came to NE Pa. vis Lancaster County Pa. they were tradesmen - german baptists & presbyterians

cherokee, sioux, and appache... as history tells us in the books, im at war with myself :D

Scottish

I was left with only a name, so I'm thankful for all of the ethnic festivals in my city.

My Mom is Portuguese

Dad's side is Italian and German.

But i was born in Brazil.

I traveled all over Portugal and had the chance to visit my moms town. Very cool trip.

That was very funny.

funny i can say that about my daughter
on her dads side she comanchee blackfoot and sueme
along of being mexcian indian french canadian german and irish on my side

just a plain ole texan...

I am Texan first....then American.

Dads side was Polish and Czyc.

I don't know what my mothers side was....I never asked.

french on my mother's side...dark eyes,darker hair
finnish on my father's side...blue eyes,blonde hair
when they were young they made a stunning-looking couple
my finnish grandparents came directly from finland...they loved the land..nature..gardening...the old fashioned way..my grandfather skied,snowshoed..saunas,and yes the rolling in the snow.....they died when i was young but i do remember going to the farm...picking berries...the fresh vegetables for our dinner....ice cold water running into your throat from the red iron pump...handmade quilts.....grandmother churned her own butter.....and gathering brown eggs in a basket....those are memories that came to me while writing this.......teasingbrunette

Since my Melmacian pedigree is too awesome for humans, I have adopted a human pedigree that is almost as awesome.

Two millenia ago my ancestors successfully prevented their homeland from being taken over by the Roman Empire. My ancestors were too fierce for the Roman army. So the Romans built Hadrian's Wall in order to protect themselves from my ancestors. (See the move "The Eagle" for more information.)

Later, my ancestors rose up against a despicable Saxon king who tried to take over their nation. (See the movie "Braveheart" for more information.)

During the mid 1600s my ancestors immigrated to North America. When the 13 British colonies decided to gain independence, one of my ancestors fought on the side of the patriots in South Carolina. He participated in the battle that changed the course of the American Revolution. (See the movie "The Patriot" for more information.)

The anthem for my people concludes with the following lyrics:

"Land of my high endeavour,
Land of the shining river,
Land of my heart for ever,
Scotland the brave."

You may be Scottish if . . .

As a baby you were lulled to sleep with bagpipe music.

When you were little and you saw a telephone pole, you asked your parents,“Why is a caber sticking in the ground?”

While other children were asking their parents for ponies, you asked yours for a Clydesdale.

You were kicked out of the Boy Scouts because your compass kept pointing to Edinburgh.

When your teacher asked you to name the father of your country, you replied, “Robert the Bruce.”

You were kicked out of your high school’s marching band because you played Scotland the Brave when told to play the school’s fight song.

You look better in a skirt than your wife does.

You enjoy the sound of a cat wailing because it reminds you of bagpipes.

If people need directions to your house, all they have to do is to ask any bartender.

You know the second stanza to Auld Lang Syne.

You can recite the name of every brand of whiskey made, but you can’t remember the names of your children.

You eat haggis and like it.

When asked in church what your favorite hymn is, you say, “Flowers of the Forest”.

When your daughter asked you to teach her to dance so that she could attend a prom, you taught her Seann Triubhas (pronounced “shawn trews”).

When it came time for your child to be baptized, you insisted that the minister use “the water of life” (pronounced in Gaelic as “whiskey).

The only thing that you will volunteer to do at church is to collect the offerings.

You refer to Bannockburn as “The Holy Land”.