Thursday, April 5, 2012

E is for England


I'm half English. I'm so half-English, half of my extended family still lives there.

My parents met when my father came across the pond and they both worked at Zion's National Park for a summer. When my dad's green card expired, he went back, and my mom followed him to England a few months later, where they married and started their lives together.

My older sister was born in England, but the last time I was there, I was roughly the size of a lima bean. My poor parents had to eat lima beans so much, they called them slima-beans and sang a song about them to the tune of Edelweiss. Eventually they tired of singing and moved back to America.

The internet has brought us all closer to our English relatives, but they're still VERY far away, so we seldom see them.
Stonehenge
My dad took this pic when he went
over for his dad's funeral last month
I think every American feels a bit like England is the "Mother-Country," but for me that feeling is very much more pronounced. It's harder to feel triumphant about how the colonists won the Revolutionary War. I very much want to get over there someday to see the cloudy skies and lush pastures.

Perhaps I can take a book tour there someday. :)

Where are your people from? Which country besides your homeland do you most identify with?

14 comments:

  1. My ancestry is a mix of English, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh, which means I NEED to visit all those countries someday. Hurry up with that book tour, wouldja? If you're appearing "across the pond," then I'll have an excellent excuse to come visit the motherland :)

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    1. Methinks I'll need a book blogger along anyway to document things, yes?

      Or you could, you know, like finish your own book....

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  2. I can still remember your mother and Grandma and Grandpa Wilcox stopping in Cleveland as your mother headed to England to get married. I was was still in Elememtery school at the time and I can remember how excited your mom was and how Grandpa read a couple of the Hardy Boy books I loved to read at the time.

    Before this time, I also remember your mother living with Grandma and Grandpa and how she was willing to play with her younger nephews. It made the stay more enjoyable when you mother was living there.

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    1. Wow, Eric. Thanks for that! So cool to hear your memories of my mom.

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  3. Most of my ancestors are from England or Wales. Oh, I want to go there so BAD!!!

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  4. I love England! I've only been once but I want to go back someday. My father is from Pakistan and my mother is from Trinidad and Tobago. I can't say I relate much to either culture, but I have spent a lot of time around both sides of the family. If I had to pick, I'd like to go back to Trinidad and spend some time there, because I was a very small child the only time I went and I don't remember much.

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  5. Oh boy am I a mix! Mostly Scots and Irish, but also Welsh, English, French and just a touch (1/32) of American Indian.

    I'd love to be able to visit Great Britain and Ireland some day.

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  6. I am 100% Malaysian who'd like to speak English like English :)

    http://angelinalbinus.blogspot.com/

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  7. My ancestors were the Revolutionaries who fought for America. We also have ancestors who were a part of the Acadian Expulsion. But, no hard feelings to England and still would love to visit. Besides America also relate to the Republic of Texas--for you history geeks.

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  8. OOh, I had no idea! Mine come from Latin America, but if you hunt my lineage further back, from Spain. Need to do my genealogy to find out when the split occurred. :)

    Elizabeth

    A to Z co-host

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  9. And of course, all I want to do is leave England and come to America ...

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    1. LOL. America is fabulous and I love it. If you ever come out you are welcome to stay with me :)

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  10. Everything was going well until you just had to mention Lima beans. I am almost ready to begin a worldwide campaign to make this horrific vegetable outlawed for the good of humanity. I am seriously almost gagging at the thought of tasting one. Blech!

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  11. I had the funniest feeling as the plane approached the UK island. I could see the land peeking out of the sea and thought, "I'm home." I agree that there is a 'mother country' feeling that a lot of us share. I wonder if my ancestors were there, looking over my shoulder out that little plane window and crying for joy.
    Yes, I'm that weird.

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