Whiplash! – “R” we ever going to stick to one topic?p

Whiplash: An injury to the neck caused by an abrupt jerking motion of the head, either backward or forward; And in the case of writing or speaking, can be caused by a rapid change of topic without prior notice.

Whiplash! – “R” we ever going to stick to one topic?

I was the last of my generation to be born into our family. Generationally, the age difference between me and my closest relative (a cousin on my father’s side) is 2 ½ years and my difference from my oldest relative  (a cousin on my mother’s side) is 14 years. Even in my immediate family, my closest in age sister is 5 ½ years older than me and my half-brother is 12 years older. I was the baby and usually treated as such. Since my grandparents had passed away prior to my birth, all I had were aunts, uncles, and cousins. We only got together periodically, so I never became very close to any of them. My cousins were more involved with each other than me due to the age gap and where they lived.

Now that I’m much older and even though I’m kind of the family genealogist, I still don’t have much interaction with them, other than with my sisters and sister-in-law. My parents and all of my aunts and uncles are gone, which makes it difficult to find any genealogical information. However, there’s this thing called the Internet, I’ve heard about. And somehow through it, I’ve managed to find (or they found me) a number of relatives that I didn’t know I had. That includes my half-brother, from my father, and a third cousin from my mother’s side of the family (both who live in France), and possibly some more distant cousins through DNA testing. These new sources have provided me with more information on my ancestry than I had before and new connections in my family, that I actually do interact with. We should probably keep this Internet thing around.

Whiplash!

Don’t you just love a good rumor? I don’t. I like information about people I know, but I

prefer it to be factual and in most cases from the people themselves rather than through someone else’s interpretation of it. I would like to say that when I hear rumors from a source, I do listen and never share. I generally don’t. If I do (and I know sharing is wrong) I always point out that it is an unverifiable rumor or I don’t share it at all usually by the person’s request. I can keep secrets and in that respect I’m quite reliable. If you tell me in confidence something and say, don’t share this with anyone, I don’t. There are stories I could tell you, like the time when…oops forget I said that.

Whiplash!

There are times when one should follow the rules and then there are times that breaking the rules can lead to improvement and new ideas. As a teacher that was important to know. There were many times in my career that I chose to break some of the rules in how I was supposed to teach something, that led to a new way of thinking about how we were teaching. This worked a lot in math and writing. Eventually, I would begin to share what I was doing and others adopted my way. Over time some of those rules about what and how we taught were changed. Of course, that didn’t always work. When someone, like my principal, saw how I was teaching something, like spelling or reading, and didn’t see it the way I did, I had to conform back to the given rules, mostly just to appease him or save myself from the potential of grieve he might have had from parents, had my way not worked out.

Rules sometimes provide you with a crutch to lean on to keep you in your comfort zone. They allow you not to rock the boat. Unfortunately, I’m a boat rocker. I will follow the rules that I am given, for the most part, however, don’t be surprised if you don’t find me trying to tweak them a bit.

Whiplash!

So where do you find out information and stories about your relatives? Do you continue rumors, or are there a select number of them you keep secret? When you hear a rumor, do you try to verify it? How many rules have you broken today?

Till we meet again…“S” this the last day? I think not!