That’s it.  Happy Thanksgiving.  I hope you have lots to be thankful for.  I sure as hell do.

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Blogged with Flock

In lieu of working what some people would qualify as a “job,” I’ve decided instead to devote a great deal of my free time (it’s all free time, I suppose) to digging up information on my antecedents.

I’m your typical American mutt–I’ve got blood from Italy, Ireland, Denmark, Poland, and Germany coursing through these veins.  You throw Japan in there and I’m practically World War II.  I have a great grandfather who was a Chicago cop, jeez, a hundred years ago?  There’s a fantastical story about one of my grandfathers (who also, reportedly, was breast-fed until he was 5) being sent back to Denmark by his employer to visit family and to smuggle back a black orchid bulb.  I did some research on that a few years ago and didn’t get very far.  No one seemed to know what the hell a black orchid might be, which leads me to believe a couple of things:  1. There’s a long tradition in my family of people making shit up and 2. Now I know where I got that from.

There’s the Italian grandfather, one of (I think) four siblings, and the only one of the bunch who didn’t marry an Italian.  And worse (I guess), he married an Irish German.  And that Irish German took exception to something her Sicilian sister-in-law said one day and enforced years of non-communication between her husband (my grandfather Victor) and his brother (Uncle Frank).  Victor and Frank, apparently, ran into each other in Vegas and started speaking again.  Victor and Frank also died within days of each other.  Yeah, I got an Uncle Frankie.  What’s it toya?

My maiden name is Julian, and, supposedly, was at one time Giuliani.  Which prompts one to wonder–am I related to a candidate for the Republican nomination?  (Actually, my father wonders that.  I just shudder at the thought).

There’s the Giulianis/Julians, the Johnsons, the Rokiskis, the Nielsens.  There’s Vic and Frank and Marge and Emily and Rosie and Gracemarie and Sven and Louise and Hans and Adolf and Christof and Martha and Gus and many more.  There’s Danish sharecroppers who sent their sons to be apprenticed as carpenters and horticulturists. 

And that’s virtually all I know.  I have my own memories of the people my grandparents were (they’re all dead now), and those stories mix in my head with the stories I’ve heard about their lives before I was born, before my parents were born. 

So, my project:  as usual, I think bigger than is probably necessary.  First, I have to gather all the information that is already known about the people who came before me and put it in one place.  And then I have to find more information, dig deeper, listen, retrace their steps.  It could be just your average, everyday family tree project, or it could be a history of immigration in the United States in the 20th century.  Or it could just be a history of me.  Who knows where it’ll take me?

I want to put up a website to hold all the information I find, and to share it with all of my relatives, but I can’t for the life of me think up a proper name for it.  Something that somehow pays tribute to the countries and/or people of my origin.  Any suggestions? 

I know that’s what you’re asking yourself.  What the hell happened to this blog?  Well, I’ve decided to make a few changes.  A fresh start, I suppose.  Whether that guarantees I’ll actually post once in a while remains to be seen.  I sure hope so.  I miss my blog!

I briefly thought about abandoning all of my old posts, but I don’t think I’ll do that.  They’ll be up soon.

 And if you used to appear in my links, you’ll end up back there.  If I forget you, go ahead and nudge me to put you back up.