What aspects of your cultural heritage are you most proud of or interested in?
In school I hated history. The teacher seemed to have no creativity or imagination. All they did was make us memorize dates and laws. It was so boring and tedious. I didn’t like it at all.
But then my stepmother came into the picture. She’s a big person for genealogy, and has unlocked a lot of things about my family.
Suddenly history was interesting. I had already known that my family were Norseman, and that was of interest to me, but then I learned of all of the things my ancestors have done through the years to help build this country, and possibly even help explore the world in years past., even in the days before Columbus.
Norman were known for the exploration of the sea sailing away from the site of land, did not strike fear in them as it did other Europeans. They went a Viking. They weren’t Vikings. They went a Viking. – sailing and exploring for new lands. As a child, I always loved the water and being at the beach, now I know why I can never seem to get very far away from the sound of the water or the splashing of the waves.
Like my ancestors from long ago, I think I would feel at home on the sea, rocking with the waves, and feeling the spray in my face. I feel at peace on the water, a tranquility that I can find nowhere else. It is a calming source in times of tumult.
After the tragedy of September 11, 2001, an art gallery in Rochester, New York, launched an exhibit asking patrons to submit photos of things that were important to them. Most of those photos were of family members and pets; mine was a picture from the dock of the lake with the sun setting on the water, a sign of peace and tranquility.
The surface of the Earth is covered 3/4 in water, it is the gift of life; and over 1000 years ago, my ancestors helped to conquer that water to buildthe life we now have on all seven contents of Earth.