Experience is a Doorway, Not a Final Destination- Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, January 12

Yo Ho Yo Ho A Pirates Life for Me!

When the holidays come around my thoughts, of course, turn to family. I often wonder about who my ancestors were and what they were like. It was especially true this year since my Grandpa Geiser passed away.

When I was in Indiana for the holidays, I sat down with my Grandma Geiser over tea and she shared stories about her family.

Her father was my Great Grandpa Frank. She told me about how he was sent away to Great Uncle John’s farm every summer because he was always getting into trouble. He was ornery even as he grew older.

“Your Great Grandpa Frank did not get along with his mother-in-law. She was a very aristocratic woman,” Grandma Geiser said, nodding her head. She went on to explain that my Great, Great Grandma Roland found a book that traced her ancestry to a French King. She never forgot about it and made sure everyone around her knew it as well.

“One day," my Grandma Geiser said, "your Grandpa Frank and his mother-in-law were arguing. From another room family members could hear Great Grandma Roland bellowing, ‘I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I HAVE ROYAL BLOOD IN MY VEINS!’ To which Grandpa Frank shot back, ‘I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I HAVE THE BLOOD OF PIRATES WHO SAILED THE HIGH SEAS IN MY VEINS!’” My Grandma pounded her fist on the table and laughed.

I wish I could have met both of these relatives because I would have loved them. I knew my passionate nature had to come from somewhere! Who would have thought that it came from descendants of pirates and kings?

“A man finds room in the few square inches of the face for the traits of all his ancestors; for the expression of all his history, and his wants.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

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