Family Trees

Before Adeline was born, Heidi and I asked our parents to provide the names of all those we came from. We wanted to select a name for our baby that would honor those who paved the way. I now have four pages of info on my side of the family and know that my children are made up of this ethnic mix:
11/16 German
1/8 Norwegian
1/16 Swedish
3/64 English
1/32 Scottish
1/32 Pawnee Indian
1/64 Irish

Here are some of my favorite stories:
On my dad’s side
•My grandma’s dad (Norway) met her mom (Sweden) and he went to the United States first. He asked her to come also, but her father said that he would never speak to her again if she went. She did and he never did.
•My grandpa’s grandpa and his brothers were hired mercenaries for the English army. After they had a falling out with them, they moved to America.
•My grandpa’s grandpa moved to Kentucky. He and his brother both married Pawnee Indian women from Oklahoma. My great-grandpa was the youngest of eleven children and had five brothers, who were much older than him. Prior to the Civil War, half of his family, including him, moved to Illinois. As a result, his three oldest brothers fought for the South, while their two younger brothers fought for the North. In the evenings, after the fighting had ceased, they would meet for supper and resume fighting the next day.
•During WWII, my grandparents moved to California and my grandpa worked in the ship yards.
On my mom’s side
•The information that I received from my mom was much more vague, as her father committed suicide when she was five and her mother died of cancer when she was seventeen.
•My grandparents met at Luther League at church. He was nine years older than she was.

My parents met at a dance at the Lake Marion Ballroom; my dad was home on leave from the army.

My Grandma Adeline died when she was only 45, eight years before I was born. Heidi's Great-Grandmother Lydia died when she was 102, months before Adi was conceived. Malachi is the last of the minor prophets. Between his last word and Matthew's first, Jesus is born. Walter is a family name throughout Heidi's side. Her uncle Wally (like my dad's best friend, Ronnie, where my middle name comes from) survived Vietnam and then died in an accident after returning. Wally was tragically killed by a drunk driver. Heidi's Great-Grandfather Walter pastored in Fergus Falls, MN for half of his life.

History matters. Where we come from makes a difference. But in no way does it limit what we can become as precious children of God.