Who are you?

Dear Friends,

      I get asked all the time why I do what I do. Simple. For a long time I didn’t know where I came from. It wasn’t until I had my third child, who’s father has a large family, that I realized how important knowing your predecessors are. Back story: My father was an only child, and my grandfather, his father, Gabriel, was the only surviving child of three, and he divorced my grandma and moved to San Francisco when my dad was a small child so I never knew a thing about him or our Mau side. Just that alone, I am lucky to exist. My father’s mom (Saijo/Woo) got dimensia the year she came to stay with us after my dad died, so I didn’t know anything about her or her family. My mom’s parents (Myers/Nipp) talked about their childhoods here and there but nothing to the extent of sharing their familial histories. After they passed, I became obsessed with making sure my children knew who they were. My own mother would only share stories of how she and her siblings hardly ever got along and how she had to do all the household things and care for her siblings while my grandparents worked. No “when I was little…” stories, no fond memories, no heartwarming moments of reminiscing on the past-just the facts of the way life used to be. I never got to know either side enough-not nearly enough. And by the time I was old enough to begin to put the pieces together, my grandparents were gone. It’s with that feeling, that I feel that everyone should know at least something about where they came from. Our parents, regardless of the circumstances, created us and with that gave us a unique connection that if something happened a second later, we would not exist. Most people don’t think about that. How lucky we are to be alive, to be breathing, and for most to exist. You can’t know who you really are, without knowing where you came from. With that I say, what are you waiting for? Time is the one thing we can never get back. Learn where you came from. Know your ancestors even if it’s only on paper. I promise it’ll be worth the effort. ❤️ With Love, CM