Speaking of "move along, nothing to see here" states. I can't imagine how anything rivals crossing Texas. I swear, I think it was 2.5 days or more. Nothing but oil rigs and cows.
But I digress.
Since I'm Chihuahua sitting at someone else's house today, I thought I'd write a bit about the trip I'm taking. It's kind of a long story how this all came about but I'll try to shorten it, though it might feel like I'm torturing the reader by omitting details but if I didn't leave them out I'd end up posting chapters.
So, I was raised an only child, have all the characteristics of an only child, but about 6 years ago I was reunited with my siblings. One of my sisters and I were together when she visited us here at the homestead, sitting outside one night when she said that she always wanted to go to Scotland to which my reaction was something like
!!!
I'm Scottish and, of course, so is she. The difference is that (because the family split in two when I was younger and before she was born) I was the one who heard the family stories throughout my childhood (because the part of the family that I was split off in were all the Scots) and had been searching up ancestral information for a couple of years prior. I ***always*** wanted to see Scotland where my G-Gma came from. Suddenly I had a sister who wanted to do the same and that's when we started cooking up the trip.
My G'Gma was central to the family and all the stories revolved around her and her life. When I remind my kids and other females in the family that they come from a long line of strong women, I am pointing back to her and those who came after her, including the women who raised us because
she raised them.
In the 4 years or so following, I did more family research and last year I took a genealogy course through a university in Glasgow that happened to pop up in my Facebook feed for no reason other than it must've been dumb luck or fate or preordained or something. On account of that course, I was able to answer some questions about the family but the best thing was...I was able to confirm the old family stories. The class had discussions and I stayed up late at night until the Scots came online so I could ask them questions about the area. ;-)
Where all I had at the beginning were the names of people I grew up with, the passenger list from Ellis Island for when they crossed over, and the family photos/stories, I now have names, dates, addresses and all kinds of stuff now. I'm talking tons of stuff.
So...we're going to the UK this fall, starting with London, then Scotland, and on the way back, we're making the same journey that our G-Gma did when she crossed over with her children only we're doing it by air. Before we go or on the way back, we'll be visiting our G-Gma's grave in Newark. Yes, I tracked that down, too. All my life I drove past that cemetery never knowing that she was buried there. I'm not a huge fan of cemeteries. I just need to do this.
If you have noticed any of my postings to Nightlion you might know that we're legit related. One night he was posting, I asked him a couple of questions or whatever and he posted a pic of his family castle and I about died on the spot because it was MY family castle and then...I remembered NL's last name and wanted to smack myself upside my own head because it is one of my family names. The castle is less than an hour's drive down from Glasgow, so we'll be visiting that as well.
We're all booked for flights and accommodations! I don't think I'll be posting during the trip but who knows. I'm definitely going to be writing a journal type thing. I just know that when I land in Glasgow I'll be in happy tears. I get to honor my G'Gma by making this trip, seeing where she came from and seeing if there is anything of me in Scotland.
:-)