I always find the male line in ancestry a bit useless, because who knows who the father was. But that is not fair of me, because when that man raised that kid, even when it was not biologically his, the raising of a child might still be the biggest deal of the bargain.
That i have become my mother probably has little to do with that fact that i was her biological child, but more with the fact she was my primary role model.
Yet to look at biology so to speak is interesting too, to see a strong resemblance in a child you birthed but never raised,
I did ask my sister, Anke, who does pa look like , the Zuiderends or the Romeins (his mother's side) or the Keijzers? My sister did not know. That i physically look like my pa, no doubt about it. And i look like my mother too for that matter.
So Anke told me an interesting story; recently people found a skull in the area where we grew up, This skull apparently was dated to the 1100 's. and the DNA confirmed it to be a Zuiderent. Zuiderent the last name of my paternal grandmother's mother. And Anke's say looking around town you could actually see who looked like the ... ( what is the word)? they made from that skull.
Reading my sisters website in detail about this great grandmother of mine was revealing. It told me a lot about why my grandmother was the way she was. I always thought she came from more money then my mother's family, but now i doubt that. It might just have been that her character formed more royally then my mom's family, who in my minds view were not as arrogant. due to her life!
Hear this!
We have come a long way. Life is amazingly good now, All who read this i am sure have ample to be grateful for. I hope this story interests you, and not so much actually, that it is my great grandmother, but more that it is All of us, our story.
And thinking of the people in Turkey and Syria, a horrific story that is happening now. Sending them my love.
My great grandmother, that i never even heard of before now;
Elisabeth Zuiderent.
She was, the story goes, born oct 4 1857 in Heerjansdam.
She married in Maasland May 18 1882 to Christiaan Romein
She gave birth to her first child in 1884 Pietertje, Pietertje lived 8 month
In 1888 she gave birth to her 4 th child, the first one that lived beyond infancy.
In all according to what was recorded, Elisabeth gave birth to 13 children, only 5 lived to become an adult. and yes my dear grandma was the youngest and the only girl. And she the only one who reached 80, She died when she was 88.
No wonder she was a bit of a queen!
I know somebody said this before me, but i don't know who. We are the children of survivors!
I have lots of stories about my paternal grandparents, as they lived right beside us on the farm.
But the surprising thing is, a thing i did not know till now. That i have stuff from her brother Jan, who was close in age to Sientje ( my grandmother) He died young, and left behind his newly wed wife , Tante Jo, who never remarried and also became quite old. I would also spend time in her house, (more memories:)When she died, she left a treasure of stuff from the turn of the century.
When i think of the beautiful stuff in that house, the beautiful big garden, i do wonder if we progressed at all.
What do you think?
4 comments:
I think the life of women in western societies 150, 100 and even 50 years ago was in many ways much harder but when I go through my mother's and grandmother's history I recognise that they had different acceptance and coping skills. Both of my grandmothers were in control, in their own ways, of their lives and despite the fact that they lived in the shadow of their husbands. When I gave birth prematurely to my daughter, I gave her the name of one of my grandmother's as a token of strength. It was only a gesture, I know, she has grown up to be healthy and strong due to many other influences and opportunities, but the name has been a reminder to me of the struggles and achievements of my grandmother and my hopes for this very tiny girl, who was fighting hard for survival in her first weeks.
The influence of DNA as a marker of individual characteristics in a person is overrated in my opinion, there is weak scientific data and I am very much a proponent of nurture vs nature, but I am cheered by the scientific fact that all women alive today can trace their mitochondrial DNA back to a single woman living in Africa two hundred thousand years ago.
I think it's wonderful that you were able to find out so much about your father's grandmother. Yes, we are the children of those who survived long enough to have children of their own and when we consider all the things they had to endure to survive for that long, then, it is pretty awesome. :)
I rhink anyone who, in this day and age, who gives birth to 13 children would be considered either totally subjugated or totally inconsiderate of the problem of over-population.
Given there are, at least in the developed countries, few who suffer from either of the conditions, I'd say we've come a long way. But given that no one thinks it's THEIR responsibility to help reduce the number of children being born, we still have a LONG WAY to go.
yes Sabina, i feel too that both my grandmothers were in control. Lots of food for thought.
And yes the nurture vs nature, I did not know what you say about the mitochondrial DNA. I look into it. But that we all are related, no doubt about it.
Yes, Bless pretty awesome indeed.
And Michael, yes i feel that too, we have come a long way looking at it one way, but looking at it from another direction...i even feel in some aspects we have digressed or even worsened.
But for sure too many people on this planet as is!
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