Destruction of Family History

I have come to understanding that saying you don’t know where you going unless you know where you come from. I come from people who have inner strength, vision, dreams, style, and deep love of family. I am grateful for all the sacrifices and risk that they took in life to get me to where I am at this time. For this I will always be grateful for the life that I have lived instead of the one I could have had. I am a child of immigrants from Haiti.

I know bits and pieces of my father’s life in Haiti, things that he did during his youth, the fact that he grew up without his mother who died while he was an infant, that he traveled, and that he was a tailor. I picked up some of this knowledge from listening to his conversations with family and friends. I never sat down and spoke to him on his life amazing right. My daughters Language Arts class is studying biographies so they are to interview a family member or friend. She has chosen to interview her grandfather for this assignment. The hour that was spent asking my father questions was an eye opener for me.

My father has a rich background with what seems like death at a young age of people who shape are lives. His mother died six months after giving birth to him, and from that point he was raised by his grandmother. She then died when he was eight years old leaving him to be raised by family members and then his step mother. Through this I think he enjoyed life, school, family, and friends and then when he got older he enjoyed traveling and learning the trade of tailor. He gave us a glimpse to the difference of Haiti then to what it is know. The beauty of the trees, the fruit, the way that money stretched to feed families, the lack of worry and the love of family. The love of family is what has stuck with me over the years that and his stylish sense of style.

Destructing your origins gives you insight into your parents and who they are. I think I mostly enjoyed listening to him and my daughter as she prodded him for more details into his life and things that he enjoyed. We laughed on his explanation on what made him interested in my mother. It was more then her looks but her potty mouth and the way she always spoke her mind without holding back. It’s funny because I have inherited my mother’s potty mouth and my girls always speak their minds sometimes talking before thinking. I see it is a family trait! I say go out and just talk to an older family member or friend it always enlightening to see who they were raised or how it was while they grew up. If nothing else you will have an enjoyable time and learn a bit of history in your own backyard that you did not know existed.

I am still working on who I am but if my father is a testimony of where I am going. It’s a ride that I am going to enjoy for myself and taking my family with me. I try to write down little bits of information that may interest my girls later. I keep little bits of fashion that they may enjoy and want to incorporate into there lives. I also keep cards, correspondence or little notes that my show future generations who I was! I want to live a rich legacy of family behind.