Family's World View
We’re a hardy clan.
Our 10th Great Grandpa, Richard Swain, helped transplant the center of the universe from the waning Elizabethan Age to a new center stage on Nantucket Island. Grandpa was one of the original Nantucket Nine.
These nine were Prime Movers. Their innovations in the New World were profound. Unlike many of the pilgrims who fled for reasons of religious persecution, most of these men came to better themselves financially.
Strangely, Nantucket Island became a safe haven for the Quakers being persecuted by pilgrims on the mainland. These island settlers also protected the local Indians. The natives were never pushed off their Nantucket land.
Not only did islanders champion human rights at a time when the laws on the mainland forbade speaking to a Quaker or harboring warrior Indians, they became a paradigm of world commerce. Theirs was the whaling industry that prospered for nearly two hundred years.
Centuries later, tales of valiant female ancestors were told as well.
One Irish lass came to America during the potato famine. She fell in love in Indiana. But before she could marry, she had to return home to handle her family’s affairs. She walked nearly 200 miles to Cincinnati and took a boat up the Ohio towards New England. Utilizing her ingenuity and perseverance, she arrived in New York, set sail for home, handled her affairs and returned to marry.
Another feisty female traveled by wagon through the Cumberland Gap with her six sons. She’d been widowed in North Carolina and headed for Indiana to find family there. Each son was six feet tall. She said her 36 feet of sons would protect her. She felt safe.
Fast-forward to present day and a much different group. Flaws are too often chastised before fortitude is praised. It may have been the same for our people long ago. Yet, today there is a way to tell of the good, the bad, or the ugly in a kindly manner. Why wait for time to smooth out the edges?
Our 10th Great Grandpa, Richard Swain, helped transplant the center of the universe from the waning Elizabethan Age to a new center stage on Nantucket Island. Grandpa was one of the original Nantucket Nine.
These nine were Prime Movers. Their innovations in the New World were profound. Unlike many of the pilgrims who fled for reasons of religious persecution, most of these men came to better themselves financially.
Strangely, Nantucket Island became a safe haven for the Quakers being persecuted by pilgrims on the mainland. These island settlers also protected the local Indians. The natives were never pushed off their Nantucket land.
Not only did islanders champion human rights at a time when the laws on the mainland forbade speaking to a Quaker or harboring warrior Indians, they became a paradigm of world commerce. Theirs was the whaling industry that prospered for nearly two hundred years.
Centuries later, tales of valiant female ancestors were told as well.
One Irish lass came to America during the potato famine. She fell in love in Indiana. But before she could marry, she had to return home to handle her family’s affairs. She walked nearly 200 miles to Cincinnati and took a boat up the Ohio towards New England. Utilizing her ingenuity and perseverance, she arrived in New York, set sail for home, handled her affairs and returned to marry.
Another feisty female traveled by wagon through the Cumberland Gap with her six sons. She’d been widowed in North Carolina and headed for Indiana to find family there. Each son was six feet tall. She said her 36 feet of sons would protect her. She felt safe.
Fast-forward to present day and a much different group. Flaws are too often chastised before fortitude is praised. It may have been the same for our people long ago. Yet, today there is a way to tell of the good, the bad, or the ugly in a kindly manner. Why wait for time to smooth out the edges?
My Bouncing Boy
"He's too pretty to be a boy!" my obstetrician declared, as he recapped the previous night's events to me on his early morning visit.
"We kept him in the incubator overnight because of his humming sounds. It was a musical sound I've never heard before. We wanted to observe him and make sure everything was okay. His lungs are fine though. He's perfectly healthy," my doctor reassured.
I chuckled to myself. Eric had a ringside seat for all my Christmas solos at church three months earlier. Just maybe, because of the separation at birth, he was calling to me in his own little way.
I never heard Eric hum. I first held him soon after the doctor visited.
Curious, isn't it, how fixated new mommies can be on their baby's looks. My own mother had a very different story about mine. Mom said she nearly rejected me because she thought I was too ugly to be hers.
It wasn't me she rejected. They brought Mom the wrong baby! It had been a record night for that delivery room. They had a shortage of beds. Mom was on a gurney in the hall when they brought out the baby they thought was hers.
It's not primarily the look or the infant's form that connects mother and child best. It's the resonance of love.
