Getting to Know All About You
Last week I shared some basic facts about myself, with a funny picture of me in my mom’s bra. Well, in order to share another picture of me in my mom’s undergarments, here’s another post. Don’t worry, there are no more. I’m not sure why I thought this was so hilarious, but clearly, I did. This picture is in my grandparents’ front yard, and you can see my grandma looking out at us through the window. My elder brother, Richard, is in the picture with me. This is in Stockton, California, before we moved to Alaska.
So, what else can I tell you about me, to justify this post. Hmmm.
Some of my ancestors came to North America back in the 1600s. Puritan stock. One of my direct ancestors, Sarah Osborne, was accused of being a witch in the Salem witch trials. It was a small community, so I’m also related to one of the accusers, Anne Putnam, though she is not an ancestor. I wrote a post about famous family members back in 2006.
On my father’s side, family lore says that one ancestor was enslaved on George Washington’s estate, and that he was part French. We decided that his mother was accosted by the Marquis de Lafayette, but who knows, probably it was someone less important. When I did 23 and me, it shows that I am 0.6% Nigerian, so at least the slave part is likely true. I was reminded of this recently while listening to James, where he talked about the 1 drop of blood rule, whereas if you have any black ancestors at all, you were considered black. This is for obvious reasons, so white men could rape black women and still enslave the children. Ugh. I have both Union and Confederate soldiers in my family, and slave owners on both sides.
This post has gotten dark, hasn’t it? Women falsely accused and imprisoned, rape and human bondage? Let’s lighten it up.
Earlier this year I deleted my 23 and me account and asked them to dispose of my sample. Did they? Who knows. But before I did so, I printed up my information, which I just referenced to get the percentage Nigerian right, and look at this list of completely random things that are perhaps genetic. Most of these are correct!
What else. Well, we have lived in our current home longer than either of us have lived anywhere else. We bought our townhome in 1998. We bought because there is no rent control here, and our landlord was going to raise our rent 40%, because prices were shooting up. He did us a favor I guess, because housing prices shot up pretty fast after that, and within a year or two we would not have been able to afford our place. We certainly couldn’t afford it now.
We lived in Philadelphia for 2 years, which is so long ago now that it feels more like a dream than a memory. We moved there from San Francisco so my husband could attend graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania. I got a job working in the Sociology Department, as the assistant to the dept. chair, so we would drive in together every day. It was really nice.
I have sero-negative inflammatory arthritis, which is basically Rheumatoid Arthritis, but my Rh factor is negative. I was diagnosed in 2014, during a month sabbatical from work when I was relaxed and swimming and taking it easy. A lot of people have their first big flair because of stress, but that was not my experience. It hits me the most in my hands and feet. It’s pretty well managed by Minocycline, which is an old school treatment, though I can’t really go barefoot much, and standing for a long time hurts. But I hear from lots of people my age with that problem, and no autoimmune issues.
I was a volunteer driver for our local Meals on Wheels for about 11 years. I was laid off from my job in 2009, and wanted to get out of the house once in a while, without it being a large commitment. Once a week I would drive to a distribution hub (at a senior center) and pick up meals for 15 to 16 home bound seniors. Then I would drive my route, delivering the food. It was really rewarding, and when I started working again several months later (back at my same job, they regretted letting me go) I asked my new boss if I could keep it up, basically taking a 2 hour lunch once a week. They said yes, and then when I switched over to my current company, they were also supportive. Once COVID hit, Meals on Wheels changed their process and started delivering more food less frequently. My car wasn’t big enough, so I had to quit. Now I volunteer 2 days a week for a cat rescue, cleaning out their pens and making sure they have clean water and enough food.
What else else…I’m currently in the midst of a project where I am trying to declutter my house. I decided that I wanted to get rid of one thing a day for the second half of 2025. I’ve been trying to be mindful about it. I donate some things to Goodwill, I give things away on my local Buy Nothing Group, I recycle, and of course, some of it goes to landfill. I try to keep that to a minimum, but sometimes it can’t be helped.
Our local Indivisible group organizes weekly local protests against the current administration, and I try to go every week. I’m scared for the direction our country is going, and I refuse to roll over and go quietly. I have missed a few weeks, but mostly I’m there. I find it soothing to be surrounded by like minded people.
This post has gotten unwieldy, and I wanted to keep posts short for NaBloPoMo, so rather than looking for a sensible way to wrap it up, I’m just going to wrap it up.
How about you? Any famous or semi famous people in your family? Have you ever heard the expression, We are all of us descended from beggars and kings? Or did I make that up?
37 Comments
AC
My immigrant ancestry is relatively=ve recent — grandparents. One line extend a little farther back. Sue has a line that goes a long way back to the very early New England settlers. That branch came to Canada during the War of Independence. Apparently, they didn’t want to be independent. My one line that goes a little farther back were also American to begin with.
Good for you re volunteer work and also the protests. Sue once delivered Meals on Wheels.
J
Maybe Sue and I are distant cousins! I remember growing up, history class was so slanted, the loyalists were not painted in a good light. Ted and I went to a little museum in Belleville, Ontario (where he was born) and they described the loyalists as being good and…loyal. It was my first experience of seeing the other side of that particular war.
Nicole MacPherson
That’s so interesting, and also upsetting, about your relatives. I will NEVER do one of those tests because I feel like I know too much about my family already! Ignorance is bliss in my case.
J
Well, the test only tells you what your ethnicity is, the other information takes research. But I get it! I have a cousin that I detest, and she popped up as a blood relative (because she had done 23 and me also), which of course I knew but didn’t really want my nose rubbed in it either.
StephLove
I am not aware of any famous ancestors, but my wife’s cousin did some research into her family tree and gave a presentatation about it at a family reunion summer before last. The family can trace its ancestry directly to Edward the III and is distantly related to Audrey Hepburn, Charles Darwin, James Taylor, Jane Austen, and Meghan Markle. So, I am related to all those people by marriage, perhaps?
J
You definitely are! Fun stuff.
Margaret
Your history is fascinating; mine is boring except that one relative came over on the Mayflower. I could belong to a club but I don’t. My Italian relatives are lost in the murky archives of Catholic parishes in Italy. My mom used to say that they were peasants who probably gave birth on the kitchen table. They’ve been difficult if not impossible to track. I haven’t deleted my 23 and me and should have! I admire your volunteer work; I vowed to do more when I retired but didn’t want to be tied down.
J
I considered applying to the DAR so my daughter could get a scholarship, but my most recent few generations are complicated paper-work wise, and I found out the scholarship was likely not enough to warrant going through all of that work, so I didn’t bother. We didn’t have any relatives on the Mayflower, my mom always called that branch ‘second ship’ people.
Martha
I love the photo, so cute! I did the Ancestry test quite a few years ago, but didn’t get all the detailed information you got. I found out after my parents had passed away that I was adopted, so anything that I thought I knew about my family history isn’t my blood family. I have zero information beyond that, and had no matches on Ancestry to try to make contact with to even begin to try to find out more.
J
The ancestry test doesn’t tell you most of that stuff, actually. My father did some genealogy research, and on my mom’s side, a distant cousin did a bunch of research, and then I did some research at genealogy libraries. The ancestry test confirmed the Nigerian aspect is all.
Wow, to find out you are adopted AFTER your parents died, that must have been quite a shock. My MIL found a couple of relatives via one of those tests, but I haven’t made contact with anyone new.
Tobia | craftaliciousme
I believe my mom dug deep into our ancestry and found that there ws some swedish roaylty on my grandfathers side. But I need to ask her. And I think it was an elegible child.
I want to go and look a bit more at my anchetry. It is even on my 101 in 1001 days list. But its a project for another year.
J
It’s so interesting, right? I will start thinking of you as Swedish royalty, if you don’t mind.
Elisabeth
My grandmother had our ancestry traced back directly to William Wallace (of Braveheart) fame. He was actually my great-great-great (many times over) grandfather.
When I told my classmates that in high school, someone got excessively excited and blurted out: YOU’RE RELATED TO MEL GIBSON. Hahaha.
J
LOL! Hilarious.
One of my ancestors may (or may not) have been a Stuart (Mary, Queen of Scots), but no one can prove it.
Sabine
That list is quite interesting, I wonder how a DNA sample can come up with all these potential characteristics – or traits?
For a while I was very tempted to do it myself but now not so much, too much personal information provided to ominous new owners maybe. I know a lot of my ancestry from my grandmother’s private research – she did it the old fashioned way, visiting churches and copying records and so on. But since this side of my family has always lived in Franconia, northern Bavaria, it wasn’t a difficult task. I know that on my mother’s side I am related to Germaine Necker de Stael, 18th century French philopher, feminist, part-time revolutionary and rumored mistress of Napoleon.
My partner is Irish and we actually gave him a test for his 60th birthday only to find out that his ancestry is a “boring” 99% Irish with a trace of Scottish.
I also have been living with a rheumatoid disease, another one that in the big rheumatism family, and have made my way through the various treatments, keeping it manageable. I curse and praise medicine in equal measures and keeping active and involved is key, as you describe here.
I never heard of the phrase “We are all of us descended from beggars and kings” but so true!
My daughter tells me that humanity is our family.
J
I laughed at the person who is 99% Irish. We gifted my husband the kit because it was buy one, get one free, and he got 100% Indian. I think since then there is a bit more nuance, like some from southern India, some from northern India, etc. But at the time it just made us laugh.
Welcome to my blog!
Gina
That picture is amazing!
This is the first I have learned that photic sneezing response exists. Fascinating! Apparently, I don’t know anyone who has it!
I am first generation on my mom’s side and second on my Dad’s. Not a lot of history here in the US, it’s all in Europe! I have toyed with the idea of trying to get Italian citizenship, but it looks like they have shut the door pretty hard on that now, and besides, there is a LOT of documentation they need that I simply do not have.
I have always been suspicious of DNA stuff, and refused to send it to my medical provider when they asked me to participate in a long term study as well. I mean, maybe some relatives have sent theirs and technically they kind of have mine, but they aren’t getting it directly from me if I can help it.
J
I think that photic sneeze reflex is pretty rare, but not sure.
I suspect you are wise about not sending your dna in. Us? Not so wise, we all did it.
ernie
If you hadn’t pointe out the grandma in the window, i would’ve missed that – also, I didn’t realize you were wearing her underwear. Just thought they were shorts. I had no idea ME 23 or whatever gave so much feedback. Doesnt like cilantro, etc. I didn’t know about your work delivering meals. You have such a kind heart.
J
I’ve seen this photo for decades, and this is the first time I’ve noticed my Grandma looking out the window. Interesting about the preferences and so on, right?
Suzanne
I am loving the list of random genetic traits.
My family goes a long way back, but still, at one point, they were immigrants. I’ve never done 23 and me or any of those tests because I don’t wanna, but it also seems like the family historians have a pretty good grip on who and where and when. Not sure if there would be any surprises.
J
That’s fair, I haven’t had any surprises. We knew most everything from the family tree. It confirmed some things though, which I liked.
Allison McCaskill
We are supposedly distantly related to the MaCaskill giant who was born in Scotland and then moved to the east coast of Canada -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angus_MacAskill. We didn’t name Angus for him, but because my dad had said he would have named a boy Angus if he’d had one, and when he was born he was this big red squalling thing and the name just fit.
That list of traits is really interesting, I didn’t realize that kind of thing was included.
It’s funny how all pictures of that era kind of look like they could be from a horror movie – your probably very nice grandma peering out sinisterly from the window.
You seem to have achieved a really great balance of work and volunteering.
J
LOL that my Grandma looks sinister to you! Too me I think she’s just watching and wondering what the heck I’m doing in my mom’s underwear.
Interesting on your McCaskill connection!
Lisa’s Yarns
I am glad your RA is managed with a pretty straight forward protocol. Mine is so complicated unfortunately. But it was in a good spot this summer so I hope to get back to that state again soon.
I don’t have any famous people in my family but my cousin’s cousin is Johnny Lang (shortened from Langseth). He was pretty popular in the 90s for a song called ‘Lie to Me’ which was kind of a bluesy song.
J
I feel very fortunate that my RA is currently controlled, I do not take it for granted. I know that so many of these treatments work until they no longer work. I really hope you are back in remission SOON.
Sue
This photo is as good or better than the last one! Lol. I am glad that your RA is responding well to the meds. My sister has it and has had a hard time finding something that really keeps flare-ups at bay. I like the simplicity of your sign and that you participate in the protests weekly. I have not gone to any (my daughter has attended one and my sister has gone to a few). I think I’m a little intimidated and I also am always afraid that people are going to get angry and hostile. Which is kind of ridiculous because there have been zero instances of that at our local protests. But, it is a fear of mine, irrrational as it may be. Maybe the next time they have one here I will go!
J
My daughter does not attend for the same reason. We all do what we can. The worst thing we have seen here is a middle finger, and even that is rare. Most people are very supportive.
San
Oh wow, you got all of that through 23 and me? I think my late MIL gave Jon and me a set for Christmas a couple of years ago, but we never sent in our samples (and I kinda don’t want my DNA out there), although I find these findings hugely interesting!
I also admire you for so much volunteering. I did a lot of volunteer work in my teens and twenties, but have only volunteered on and off since moving to the States. I have been to indivisible meetings/events, but not regularly and I should probably do that again.
J
I got the page I posted through 23 and me, but the specific ancestors was from genealogical research. I did it because I was interested then, but not sure I want my information out there anymore, so I understand your reticence.
I think volunteering has helped me a lot. I get more than I give. Same with protests.
Daria
The picture on the front is hilarious. Gotta love the under ware!!!
Absolutely no kings or queens anywhere.
But: the legend has it that my mother’s dad was a POW from Germany (think 1945).
Also, my dad’s family is from eastern Ukraine -came to Kazakhstan on Stalin’s orders. He was born in Kazakhstan but grew up in Russia. He is an ardent supporter of Putin and yet his ancestors are from Ukraine. Go figure.
J
Interesting about your father, and your grandfather as well.
I’ll bet if you went far enough, you’d find some royalty, even if it’s a distant cousin.
nance
I’m beyond disappointed that this is the last of the mother’s underwear photos. I wish you could find a theme for some posts that can make them occur at least monthly. They’re the best.
Rick’s aunt was a major fan of genealogy and she traced the maternal line way, way back to very early England. I’ll have to look and see if he’s got anyone interesting, but probably not since I can’t recall it now. His father’s people are Irish and Canadian (Ontario), and we have reason to believe his dad’s people are a scion of the legendary Black Donnellys.
I admire your commitment to volunteering and activism. You are good people.
J
I’m so sorry to break your heart, but I don’t think there are any more. It would have been a great feature!
Interesting about Rick’s ancestors!
Melissa
Haha—that photo! I love it.
I am not aware of any famous people in our family history. My husband had ancestors on the first and second fleets, a convict, a soldier and a prostitute. My mum’s family were Scottish farmers who settled there in the 1800s. My dad’s parents were both adopted, although he has since worked out that his dad was most likely adopted by his grandparents because one of the daughters got pregnant and was sent to NZ to have the baby, which was then adopted by her parents. His mother was unofficially adopted and never had a birth certificate, but I think they managed to track down some information about her real family. The record-keeping was not very accurate in country Victoria, and a few of my dad’s brothers grew up celebrating their birthdays on the wrong day (or at least not on the day recorded on their birth certificates).
J
That’s fascinating!
PocoBrat
J, this photo is priceless! You’re such a cutie!