[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I suppose that my family from northern Germany is lucky not to have been wiped out by my family from Sweden.

If you probe more than a few generations in anyone's family tree, it would be surprising not to find one set of ancestors who were mortal enemies of another set. This is what Henry Ford was talking about when he said "history is bunk." We're Americans and it's time to leave Old World animosities behind. (The Old World seems to have even given up on the very notion of animosity, except towards Americans. Le plus ca change...)

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

And Henry Miller once said that "A family should lose itself once every three generations." But Henry's motivation probably had more to do with socialism and dislike of inherited wealth.

My daughter has a genetic condition that was being researched by the University of Gothenburg. We had family histories that assisted with their research. Sometimes its good to know where you come from, provided you don't live more in their world than your own.

Le plus ca change, Le plus ca remain the same. (Just "un peu" French. Been a while, more likely to use Spanish in Kansas.