I just watched an episode of Voyager about ancestors and family stories and the like. Whereas I'm skeptical about "many of the records from the 20th and 21st centuries are lost", I do realize the importance of putting down our families' stories for posterity. Through my studies of Colonial American history via my mom, grandparents and Colonial Williamsburg, I know there's much we don't know about life in the 18th century because people never thought to put down the mundane details, because, well, they're mundane. So I thought perhaps it's important to put things down about my family here, for the record. I'm already working on getting our genealogy, our family tree up on Ancestry.com (which is why I'm bringing the Family History book to Canada with me... lots of time to work on it), and Ancestry CAN hold stories and pictures, but I thought here, I can share it with people who know me, as well as give some perspective to this journal.

My mother, K., grew up with her older brother in the small town of Washington PA to upper working class, Western European parents. She played the clarinet in school (although she wanted to learn the flute), was in chorus and the majorette squad. I have a graduation picture of her, and I always thought she was SO BEAUTIFUL in it. She attended Mt. Mercy (now Carlow College) and the University of Pittsburgh for Elementary Education and got her BA, even though she never used it. She's worked in banks and offices as an office manager. She's good with numbers and accounting and small details, and she's good with the nitty gritty of running an office. She loves lighthouses and border collies (well, animals in general), the beach and history. She's an alto, sometimes sings in one of the choirs at church and taught me how to sing harmony by ear by singing along in church. (A practice at which I'm quite rusty.) She's an avid reader, and has introduced me to a number of books I've enjoyed. In fact, she's the one who got me into Harry Potter. She's also quite talented as a seamstress, although she hasn't sewn seriously in years. She can also knit (well, at that) and crochet. She's smarter than I usually give her credit for, and seemingly infinitely patient when dealing with me, her only child. She loves me SO very much and really does just want the best for me and for me to be happy. (I only wish I could oblige her more.) However, it sometimes manifests itself by nagging and by invasion of my space (she doesn't get that she needs to ASK before cleaning my home when she's here). She's also weirder than I initially gave her credit for. I think I get some of my uniqueness from her. She's a woman of faith, a devout Catholic, having converted in her teenage years, but is open minded enough about spiritual matters that she's willing to question the Church, make up her own decisions, and derive spiritual fulfillment from beliefs and practices from other religious sources. Along those lines, she's been deriving a deeper faith through incorporating parts of Judaism into her Catholicism after taking a course at her church on the Torah taught by a former rabbi who converted to Catholicism.

My mom is only 4'11", built small with a bit of curve. She has naturally brown hair, which went to gray, which she currently dyes more of a blondish color (but to me, she'll always have brown hair). She has brown eyes, like her mother. She's a Leo.

My father, T., grew up with his older brother outside of Cokeburg PA to low working class, Eastern European parents. Coal miners that never got beyond the 7th and 8th grade in school. My dad inherited his love of nature and fishing from his father at a young age. I don't know much about my father's early home life, as from what I gathered, it wasn't exactly the best, including some alcohol problems, so no one will talk much about it. Dad learned how to play the drums in school and was in marching band (which is why Dad hates parades to this day. He always had to carry the bass drum.) Dad went to a 2 year vocational technical school after high school where he got his Associates in Automotive Technology. He worked on 18 wheelers with diesel engines for about 2 decades. Before I was born, while he still lived in Southwestern PA, he played drums in a Chicago-style "push" polka band, one that released 2 records on LP. Dad has a good singing voice, which I would probably put in tenor to baritone range, and an excellent falsetto. He's probably my greatest musical influence, as he enjoys music of the day and he's regularly gotten me into good music, from Queen to Dave Matthews Band when they first came out to Billy Joel. Dad taught himself to fly fish as a teen and has spent his entire life honing his skills to an art and a science. Dad also likes dogs... Lukie, our beagle we had while I was growing up, was technically his.

My father currently has 2 businesses: one doing pressure washing and other handyman type stuff, and the other teaching and guiding fly fishing. My father seems to be a pleasant fellow on the surface, but once you get to know him, you find out that he never lets his negative emotions (other than anger) surface. He never talks about his feelings. Fishing is his one and only hobby, although he used to hunt (high powered rifle, muzzleloader, and archery) when I was growing up, and he used to trap before that. My dad has poor writing skills, but he's good with mathematics, especially mental arithmetic (he can run circles around me with that). I don't think of my dad as a serious reader, but he does read anything on fishing he can get his hands on. He also writes about fishing as well (with major proofreading from my mother). My dad is also an excellent chef, having learned a bit from mom's mom, but self taught beyond that. He can come home, take whatever's available in the fridge, freezer or cupboards, and slap together a delicious meal in 30 minutes. He's also at home cooking for 50 or even 500 as he is cooking for 1, which is quite a gift. He's also a bit quirky and strange, but in a pleasant way. I think I got that from my dad, too. He enjoys slapstick comedy (he's a fan of The Three Stooges), and passed that on to me. He cares very much about working hard and "pulling your own weight". He's big on the "ya don't work; ya don't eat" principle. As his daughter, I sense occasionally he loves me very much, but has serious problems expressing it. I also know that I'm not exactly the daughter he signed on for having when mom and he had kids.

My dad stands about 6', medium to heavy build. He's got light brown hair (what's left of it), curly, and blue eyes. His hands are large, with thick fingers, and my hands are miniature versions of my fathers'. I get my hair and my eyes from Dad, and people say I look more like him than Mom, although FAR more in my younger years. He's a Taurus, like me.

My parents are still together, and they live in a small ranch house that they own on 3.2 acres of land in the woods of South Central Pennsylvania, in between the towns of Boiling Springs and Mount Holly Springs. They dated for 9 years before getting married but never lived together before then. Dad's 5 years younger than Mom, so they wanted to wait until he finished school and they could build up some savings and purchase what they'd need for a house. They're both practical with money that way. And considering I was raised Catholic and yet I'm an only child, I'd say that they're also practical in other ways, if you know what I'm saying.

They're both also very active in the church and charity organizations. My parents were active in my school growing up as well. When it comes to running an organization, they say that 10% of the people end up doing 90% of the work. Well, my parents were always part of that 10%. They're big on volunteering time and giving back.

Politically, my parents are nuanced, like I am, but in rather different ways from myself. My mother is registered Republican, but really only because her parents are. I'd consider her a socially conservative moderate. My father's a registered Democrat, but I'd consider him a "traditional values" conservative moderate who's liberal on some issues, especially when the environment is concerned. He leans libertarian on welfare and those kinds of social programs. Mom's taken my being bi and kinky much better than Dad has. (Dad doesn't even know about the kinky yet. Mom only knows because she likes to ask too many nosy questions and I like to be honest with my parents.) Mom and Dad both believe in "traditional values," but Mom's more "live and let live" than Dad is. They tried to raise me with the same values, and I'd like to think the good parts of those values stuck, while the bad got discarded. (Ex. I'm a bit traditional when it comes to marriage when you're talking about sanctity and divorce [a.k.a. I don't take marriage lightly and I'm not too crazy about divorce], but when it comes down to what genders of people and how many of them, I'm quite progressive and liberal, thanks.) Dad's more than a bit bit racist, although he would say otherwise. (I must admit, it creeped into me more than I'd like. I'm working on fixing that, though.)

I know I'm saying a lot of negative things about Dad, but if you only know him casually, he really is a great guy. Funny, pleasant, hard working, giving. And all of that is true. It's just... he's my DAD. I know him, I lived with him for years. And, in more ways than I'd probably like to admit, I'm half of him. (The same goes for Mom.) Dad clings hard to traditional ideas of family. He believes genuinely in equality of the sexes (NEVER did he ever discourage me from doing anything because "girls don't do that"... in fact, he cultivated the tomboy in me), but yet, he still tries to cling fast to "I am the man, I am the head of the family". Honestly? I think he's scared. I think he might feel some out of his league with Mom and I, with the crazy changing modern world, and he compensates by clinging to "family values".

I also realize I'm writing a LOT more about Dad than about Mom. Which you might find strange, considering that these days, Mom and I are a lot closer than Dad and I. I think it's because my father had much more influence on me growing up than Mom did, and in many ways, Dad and I are more alike than Mom and I. In fact, we're too alike sometimes, especially when it comes to being stubborn, which is why we butt heads. Not only that, I was Daddy's Little Girl (or, more accurately, Daddy's Little Tomboy) growing up... I pretty much idolized him. Which is why it's so hard to get the bad things he's said to me out of my head.

I know that was a lot to read, but I hope it was informative. And I hope it gives you a better view of who I am as well.