I was a history major in undergrad. A major chosen on a whimsy, really, since I wanted so badly to major in art, but felt compelled to choose something I was convinced would look more "scholastic" on a law school application.
As luck would have it, however, the decision was a fortuitous one. I fell in love with history. Quite mad about it, really. My concentration was on American and European history, but I love it all. I once spent a whole semester holed up in the library during every spare minute I had on campus, poring over the special collection of women pilots who served in World War II, before writing a massive paper on the whole thing. I must have read over 10,000 pages on that subject alone, which is no small feat considering I had a 17 credit load that semester. I still hold a very soft spot for those women in my heart and will obsessively watch or read anything I find about them.
Anyhow, given the above, it might come as no surprise to find out I'm into researching my own family history. I have a subscription to Ancestry.com that I use for work on occasion, so the other night, I sat down to start filling in the blanks of my own family tree with the information I've compiled. My dad's side is fairly straightforward, and I have a fair number of the pieces in place back to about the 1700's, with a few 1600's that I'm not so sure about.
My mom's side is more complicated after you get past my great-great grandparents. So I decided to take a look at the materials I was able to copy a while back from some distant relative at a family reunion. Let's just say I think said distant relative a) is prone to tall tales, b) chugs Nyquil and eats red licorice laced with crack as part of her daily diet, or c) caused the huge dent in iron frame of the elementary school swing set during the last tornado outbreak with her very own head.
I truly think I've got enough material to write my own sitcom.
Don't believe me?
Take that, Pilgrims!
I think I have ancestors involved in every important historical event!
That's King of England AND the King of Spain! And did you see there at the bottom right that I had a relative born in Nazareth during THE CRUSADES! Holy moly!
King of France? I see your France, and I raise you an Italy...
You know what's really funny? I'm nowhere near being done! I got the King of Russia, King of Belgium, King of Switzerland - YOU NAME the monarchy? I'm related! But seriously, that's not even the best part. Check it:
I have a ancestor who slept with Cleopatra. Actually, well, make that two. (I'm also a descendant of Julius Caesar.) How can it GET any better, you ask?
Founder of Rome...in The Aeneid and The Illiad? Need I say more? I think not.
I could go on, but truly, I think you have enough evidence that my family rocks. However, lest you think the greatness ended with the Jamestown massacre of my ancestors, I'll share a little story about my grandmother, the Blueblood. The following is an excerpt from a recent telephone conversation I had with my mother (daughter of Edith the Great):
Mom: Well, they finally found mom's teeth.
Me: What in the Sam Hell are you talking about?
Mom: Didn't I tell you? Mom lost her dentures. She said all she could remember was she was talking to Junior and Carl, and she had to run inside to pee. She thought she may have set them on the dryer as she was running to the bathroom, but she ran straight to the bathroom and nowhere else.
Me: Why did she take out her teeth to pee?
Mom: We don't know.
Me: So where'd they find her teeth?
Mom: Everyone went over to help her look this weekend, and they turned the place upside down but never found them. Then Mom was watching some of the grandkids on Monday, went to get them a cookie and she found her teeth in the cookie jar.
Me: The cookie jar? Hmm. Well, I guess the old diabetic didn't run straight to the bathroom, now did she?
