How important is family heritage to you?

Answer 1

Evie S.

I majored in the study of aging in college. Dealing with Alzheimer’s patients was my specialty for 15 years.

They are still tiring to find the cause of Alzheimer’s and have not as yet found the cause. Just 15 years ago some scientist thought it was caused by copper exposure. There are at lest 2 types of Alzheimer’s the one that appears to "run in the family" is called Early on set Alzheimer’s. It strikes in the 40's - 60's, and runs its course very fast. They believe it is effected by chromosome 34 {the same gene that causes down syndrome children} The interesting thing with that is that many of the parents of down children who gave birth latter in life end up with Early onset Alzheimer’s themselves. Many down children who live to adult hood also get early onset Alzheimer’s.

What I can tell you is that I have known many Alzheimer’s victims; two of them are in my family. Of the ones who get it latter in life others in their family appear unaffected by Alzheimer’s.

My I suggest a book to help you with your mother:
Validation Breakthrough: Simple Techniques for Communicating with People with Alzheimer's-Type Dementia (Paperback)
By Naomi Feil (Author)
http://www.amazon.com/Validation-Breakthrough-Techniques-Communicating-Alzheimers-Type/dp/1878812114

It is a wonderful book and I used the technique in my work and with my 2 family members {My Grandmother on my father’s side and an uncle on my Mothers side}

Answer 2

...To me, my heritage is important, but in different ways. My Mother is from Guyana, a country in south america, which has more in common with the west indies. Some of her family also came from Venezuala and Barbados. She was born in Guyana and moved here(UK) in the 60s, as a kid. There were trials and tribulations for black west indians moving to britain in those days, and to me, the way that they persevered is what I am intrested in more than where they originally came from because I feel as "non guyanese" as any other person. I feel that the history of my west indian relatives in this country is what is more important to me.
But my Fathers side - which is a mix of the peoples of these islands - Scottish, Irish, English and a little Welsh - is what is more important to me, because it is these isles where I have grown up, where I feel at home and where I have the most connection with.

Answer 3

I think family heritage is important to most of us Irish whose ancestors left the old sod for a better life in American. It's a story, a historical document, a testament to our resiliency as a race.

Answer 4

I got into this about 2 years ago, and it's importance to me has waxed and waned, as I have learned that the people that are now closest to me are the most important. My dead relatives have nothing to do with my worth as a human, and only seem to feed any false pride I might have.

Have you noticed how people often want to research the more famous of their ancestors? What's the reason behind that?

On the other hand, it is fun to do this, but I give it only the weight/importance it deserves.

The only royalty is one's own character. Or something like that.

Answer 5

My family heritage is very important to me. It shapes the way I live and makes me proud to tell all my friends about my heritage.

Answer 6

Tracing my family history has cleared up some old wives' tales, for example, documenting what religious denominations family members actually attended, but it has also led to a few surprises, such as a set of double cousins in my maternal grandfather's family early in the 19th century. Perhaps more importantly, however, it has made distant ancestries more concrete particularly when I can attach place names, marriage, and baptismal records to generations that I knew nothing about before the advent of the Internet since using only microfilm and microfiche US Census data and the family bible, I was only previously able to trace back my family to about the 1830s.

Understanding genealogy--or history on the individual level--helps all researchers comprehend history on a much larger scale, for example, the Western movement in the United States during the19th century mirrors the emigration of many families during that time period. I've also enjoyed looking for answers for other posters' questions since they sometimes offer a comparison with the experiences of my own ancestors.

The one piece of information that I cannot find, but I wish I did know, is if my mother's father's family inherited the genes for Alzheimer's. My mother is in the middle stage of Alzheimer's, but her father and his parents died long before they reached old age, so I have no clue as to whether it runs in that line.

P. S. Thanks Zina Rae for your very thoughtful post! Mom is 81, so I'm not dealing with early onset Alzheimer's.

Answer 7

To me family history is about personalizing my history. I mean that I find it interesting to learn about the details of my past because it helps to shape my perspectives on issues such as Racial Unity, Immigration, Family, Children, Work, and a number of other issues. I mean I can put up a painting of a pretty scene, or I can put up a piece or work that ties into my past in some way. Such as a picture from a village where my relatives came from. So I just enjoy the personalization and the connection.