My ancestors arrived in the New World in the 1630's. On the French distaff side are many of the "Mothers of Canada" as well as a member of LaSalle's expeditionary force, which was comprised of the first Europeans to explore the Mississippi River. Mumsy's paternal ancestors languished in Scotland until the 1800's. Vincent ancestors came to America disguised as Huguenots, but they were Jews, and it took a few generations for them to forget it. One of the ladies who married into that line was directly descended from Holland's William the Silent, grandfather of William (and Mary), joint rulers of England. If William the Silent had been the kind of ruler most are, I could have ignored his kinship, but he was exceptional, which, not surprisingly, earned him an assassination.
My great, great-grandpa Riley Vincent was the only person in Monongalia County, (West) Virginia to vote for Lincoln, and he was nearly lynched by a furious mob for so doing, which accounts for why I was raised in Illinois, though I had ancestors on both sides of the Civil War. Riley fought on the Union side.
What did Fate allow me to inherit from these worthy people? The adventure gene, a disinclination to follow others, a keen curiosity, a sense of humor and ethics, and atheism.
It was never formal, but I spent a lot of time with the Lung family after I turned 13 and my father died. There were already 7 Lung kids; they hardly needed an eighth! But they took me in, and I'm amazed to this day that they did it. In a number of respects they lived a pioneer lifestyle (+radio). Some of my fondest memories are times I spent with them. The mater familias was a handsome, self-sacrificing, courageous, amazingly warm woman with a wicked sense of humor that she passed along to all her kids. My foster siblings were and are very kind to me. I was unbelievably lucky to have had the advantage of their affection, and it put an entirely different slant on how I viewed the rest of my life. Of all the wonders I enjoyed previous to marriage, this experience and my father's influence are the ones I most value.
Brad and Judy (my parents) and I were farmers and pilots in the '40's. My charismatic father loved adventure, and Judy loved him, at least in the beginning. Brad's sister, Erica, was the most innocent, kind, intelligent, modest and tragic person I ever knew, which is saying a lot, because my family is riddled with tragedy. I named my firstborn for her.
My first school was the best. Its 8 grades were taught in one room by Winnie Hale, sans college degree: She just knew how to teach! We had a swing, outhouses stocked with old catalogs for paper, and a player piano. My foster siblings' cousin Gene daily brought a rifle to school so he could hunt supper on the way home. UCBerkeley, my alma mater, was also a good school, but not AS good.
We had a lot of wonderful, hard-working neighbors when I was a kid. Did you know that if a farmer gets sick and s/he can't work that the neighbors do it for himer? Ubanization has been a truly dubious gift.
