For this week's #52 Ancestors challenge, I was thinking about all the colorful characters who inhabit my family tree and the branches of my husband's family tree.
Then I looked at the puzzle my family is currently assembling, showing colorful doors of Montreal. Doors of all colors, shapes, and sizes. Just like a family tree, with ancestors of all types.
I never know which clue will enable me to complete a door and, if I'm lucky, get a glimpse into an ancestor's hopes and heartaches, dreams and dreads.Birth-marriage-death dates are a great start, but I really want to get a sense of the things that make someone unique and individual--colorful in his or her own way.
Even someone whose life seems humdrum on the surface has drama waiting to be discovered. Like my immigrant grandma who threw the engagement ring out the window when she rejected an arranged marriage. Like my husband's great-great-grandpa who became a pioneer. They didn't know they were colorful...but we do!
So many ancestors are waiting to get pieced together as I puzzle out the colorful past behind my family tree and my husband's family tree.
And the annoying ancestors are the ones whose puzzle pieces are missing!
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely a puzzle! Will we ever see the full picture?
ReplyDeleteLinda and Colleen, it sure does feel like our elusive ancestors are the missing puzzle pieces. Of course, as we complete the puzzle around them, the outline of their pieces help us at least envision who they may have been. Thanks for reading and commenting.
ReplyDeleteGreat analogy & photo. Enjoy both types of puzzles!
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