Finding Your Roots last week also gave me some things to ponder.  I am a child of immigrants who came to Canada in 1951.  Growing up gave me some grief being the "Nazi" on the block; and. adding to it, I was a 'gimp' (Polio '53).  Fortunately I had some very good friends that included me in their activities and protected me from real serious bullying.  Having a steel brace on the majority of the time didn't hurt either.  They knew that if I connected they would hurt worse than me.
Having left their own families back in Germany, my parents connected with a group of Baltic-Germans and these became our Aunts and Uncles.  We had to learn some German in order to communicate with the older ones who had difficulty learning English.  We also grew up with many of the traditions that they brought back from the Baltic States and their German heritage.  Real candles on the Christmas tree, carols I still sing in German, egg rolling at Easter, Fasching costume fest, Johanni bonfires, German folksongs, schnapps and the most delicious foods - from soups to tortes.  Some of these we maintained but most fell by the wayside as I raised my own family, away from these influences.



Leave a Reply.