To Those Who Came Before You

How often do you think about your own family history?

The men and women that had to exist in the same time frame to bring about the circumstances for you to exist, it's an incredible gamble when you think about it.

When I was in High School, I had to do a genealogy project and I wasn't too happy about it. Being raised by a single mom and my biological father was never in the picture, watching everyone else fill out a complete family tree always broke my heart a little.

But this time, my moms dad stepped in and offered to help me with it. My grandpa and I were very close, I was always an outcast of the family and he kinda was too. I was the only child in our family born out of wedlock and while they could forgive my mother and include her in things, apparently my existence was my mistake and was often shoved into a corner away from the family. My grandfather married into a very Catholic and very Mexican family, and he was pale and the Whitest American Man you'd ever met. Everyone would speak spanish so he didn't know what they were saying.

So, one day while I was at school, he signed up for Ancestory.com and started researching our family. When I got home that day, he had traced our family back to the late 1700s. He immediately took me to his sisters house where she had inherited diaries from their aunt who had just died.

The diaries dated back to the 14th century, most were photocopies but it was still incredible.

Within a week, my grandfather had learned everything about our family. Anyone who can trace their family back to the 1800s will find out their distantly related to several famous people.

My family does have a bit more direct links to a few people of note.

My great-great-great uncle was Johnny Ringo, if that name sounds familiar then you might have seen Tombstone with Kurt Russel. Johnny Ringo is the cowboy who Doc Holliday shoots at the end of the movie.

My great-great grandfather is Joaquin Murrieta, a man who was believed by some to be the original Zorro.

I can trace my family back to the Mayflower, they arrived in the New World and seeing their signatures on the Mayflower Compact is incredible. Their grandchildren would end up signing the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.

From mafia members of the 1960s to farmers in England to immigrants from Spain arriving in Tejas; my family has a strangely incredible history.

My great-great-great-great-great(? give or take another great) grandfather is Alexandre Dumas. My absolute favorite author of all time is a direct relative.

My project was on point and I got an A.

My grandfather kept digging after that, he loved it. I asked him why he kept digging through the past.

"I do this for you to understand the people that came before you." He sat me down, and I will never forget the speech he gave me that day.

"You aren't confident in yourself or what I know you are capable of. I didn't think our family history would be this rich, but watching how excited you get over finding out this much, I know that you'll be fine." He handed me his laptop and patted my knee. "Whenever you feel small or need strength, remember you can pull it from those who came before you."

He got up and attempted to make hardboiled eggs but it didn't work out. He did not call upon the strength of our ancestors that day.

But I do. Whenever I'm feeling anxious or stressed, I take a deep breath and think about someone from my family history. Whether its Dumas or Ringo or those on the Mayflower, I remember the power that comes from knowing your past.

Those are the times where I know, that whatever the outcome, I'll be okay.

Lets be honest, I can survive a staff meeting if my ancestors clearly survived crossing the seas and starting a brand new life in an unknown country in the 1600s. Life was hard then, at least now we have vaccines and tylenol.