Day 145

My sort of day off as long as I drive the car and buy groceries. First I will do thinning in the greenhouse while it’s cool. I over seeded and there is a crowd of green stuff. I enjoy the baby beets and all the kales, Tomatoes are showing up too. The museum visitors yesterday liked the place. We hear how they are surprised by the collection. Later I’ll walk to Karen’s for a massage and then go to Carol’s for story time.

For Hollie’s birthday I signed her up for 23 and me for DNA testing. We had been talking about the Penobscott tribal element and wondered how much would show up. None did. What? We knew that Grandpa Rollins was half Penobscott and had seen photos of his full native mother. So, she did Ancestry for their data. No native anywhere. Well, we can only surmise that Grandpa was not my husband’s father. There is no one alive to check with but it’s the only possibility. The part that both tests agreed on was the percentage of Ashkenazi Jew. My grandfather was full orthodox German Jew from this ancient sect of Judaism. It dates back to the diaspora when ancient Israel was broken up and tribes dispersed all over Europe. I spent time researching our ancestors and found that they were isolated for centuries and have produced many well-known people such as Albert Einstein. They were also nearly wiped out by the holocaust when 6 million of the 8 million Jews who were murdered were Ashkenazim. I have always been curious about the Jewish influence that my parents hid from us. His mother was not Jewish so my father was not religiously connected as it is a matrilineal line. My father’s birth certificate said Maurice Simon. My mother, who was not Jewish, was named Ruth. My father said they would not go through life as Ruth and Maurice Simon for it was a Jewish label for sure. He changed his name to Bruce Simons and she called herself Betty. I never knew why my father was so desperate to not be considered Jewish. It is hidden like so many family secrets.