Do You Think of Yourself as an Ancestor?

This is my Grandpa Red, probably before he thought of himself as anybody's ancestor.

Grandpa Red eventually became the father of six children.  My mom, on the left, was the second child born to him and my Grandma Rose.  She probably didn't think of herself as an ancestor yet either.

One thing I'm happy about is that my Grandpa Red was still living when we had Maria.  She was just a baby when he died but I still cherish some special moments as I proudly presented my baby to him.  Grandpa Red was from Texas and no matter what you think of Texas (Mike wants to MESS with Texas...in case you don't know, they have signs there that say "Don't Mess With Texas!") you have to admit that some pretty colorful sayings originated there.  When Grandpa looked at my sweet baby he said, "She's prettier than a speckled pup under a brass wagon!"

I glowed with pride!

I've never seen a speckled pup under a brass wagon but I know without a doubt that it would be a pretty sight to behold.

I heard Grandpa say something about being an ancestor. 

I remember how strange that sounded because I thought ancestors had to be really old.

Of course, no one begins life really old, not even ancestors.

When I look at Sam I sometimes think of my Grandpa Red.  I was delighted when Sam, at about 6 weeks old, developed a delightful version of red hair.  We gave credit to Ben because he'd said, "I hope our baby gets red hair."  However, I expect that was a genetic gift from my Grandpa Red, passing through several generations to end up on Sam's head.  It makes me happy.

Maria made a sweet painting that hangs in Cordelia's room.

It is a tree with names on the branches, names of Cordelia's ancestors.

Everyone on that tree contributed to the genetics now carried by Cordy.

Mike's name is on that tree; my name is on that tree!

I was looking at Cordy the other day.  Mike was playing with her and they just looked so cute together.  I felt my heart getting all warm and mushy.  I told him later that I had to admit that when we were dating in high school I never once remember thinking about our future grandchildren.  

I never thought of myself as an ancestor in the making.

But, here I am, an ancestor...

...and I love it!