When I was growing up, there was a book called “Where Did I Come From?”. (It’s still around, by the way.) It was a family friendly way for parents to start talking to their kids about sex. Kids could read the book, then ask their parents the questions they would inevitably have.
I’m a little older now, and of course know a little more, and Where Did I Come From? has a different meaning for me, as I’m sure it does for many people. There are parts of my family that I don’t know much about, and as I get older, I am curious to know more. It’s not a yearning passion that I’m sure some people feel, but I would like to know more. I would like to know more about where I come from. Who my ancestors were, where they came from, what their story was. There is much to be said for building lives of our own and creating our own identities, but for better or for worse, some of what we are comes from who they were. Some is good, some is not so good, and what we do with that is up to us.
So, I decided to look into this family of mine. I set up an account on a genealogy site and started searching. It is so interesting, and I’m sure I could – and probably will – spend hours at a time on it. I didn’t have hours that day, but I found quite a bit in a fairly short amount of time. I was surprised at how much. It is amazing to me how much information is available when you have the right access. I found a ship’s record of when my great grandparents left England, and a military record for my grandpa. Heck, I was excited to have found my great grandparents’ names! I didn’t even have that before I started.
There is so much information out there that we can access relatively easily. If we want to, we can travel to look at records, but there is so much now that we can access online. It makes me think about before the internet. Yes, there is such a thing as before the internet. Before we could text, before cell phones. Before we had the world at our fingertips whenever we want it. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not dissing the internet or cell phones. Not at all. While there is a dark side to the internet, I love the internet and use it every day. And I love the convenience of my cell phone. I love that I can reach my husband easily if I need to or just want to. I love being able to text my friends and family.
Technology can be our friend, if we let it. I am not what anyone would call an “early adopter”. I’m not great with change and don’t like to be the first one to use technology. My tech husband would probably say that is wise; let someone else deal with the bugs and start using it once they have worked them out. And I agree. There are other people whose risk tolerance for new technology is much higher than mine. I’m okay with that. Sometimes it’s good to know your limits.
But back to all of this technology that is available to us. Our dishwasher died and when it first happened, I felt guilty feeling bad about it. A lot of people don’t have dishwashers and a lot of people don’t even have clean water to wash their dishes with. But while we waited for a part to come in and then the technician to be available, I (mostly) stopped feeling guilty and just missed my dishwasher.
We use so many things that we take for granted now that at one time would have simply been something in someone’s imagination. One of our favourite shows takes place in the early 1900s. Sometimes they bring historical figures into the plot, and sometimes they bring in when things were invented. Buffalo chicken wings, the first hot dog, banana split, lie detector machine, the games of basketball and volleyball… It’s fascinating. Sometimes it’s silly – referencing the size of the first microwave ovens, one character said “What if you could have a whole potato baking room?”
There are so many inventions that make our lives easier that once upon a time would have been unimaginable. Washing machines, microwaves, lawnmowers, ovens, dishwashers, calculators, tractors… All things that make our lives easier. Just like the internet is making my genealogy search easier. I don’t have to travel to where my grandparents were born to see their birth certificates. I don’t have to go to the churches where they are buried to see their death certificates. I can do it from the comfort of my home – in my pjs if I want to. And that is fantastic.
Does it have a down side? Sure. It’s the same as the upside. Being able to do it from the comfort of my home means I don’t actually have to travel to find birth certificates or death certificates. It can mean I wouldn’t get out as much as if I did have to travel to do those things. But like what we do with the characteristics we have from our ancestors, that is up to us. If it wasn’t for technology, I wouldn’t be able to chat with you here every week. And I think it’s so cool that I can.
So, I’m going to replace my dishwasher (soon, I hope!) – sadly, she couldn’t be saved – keep texting my friends and family, and keep chatting with you.
And I will continue to search for the answers to “Where Did I Come From?”. I’m nervous, but also excited to see what I find, and isn’t that how some of the best journeys begin?