20 + years ago, while I was off exploring the world and losing myself in amazing experiences outside of Canada, my family had a reunion. It was in the making for a few years prior to its commencement.
In fact, my great uncle had written a piece detailing the family tree from the Russian provinces in the 1800's. At the time, not much information could be detailed about my maternal grandmother's family. All we had was centric to my Grandfather's parent's flight from a rapidly evolving communist movement in St Petersbourg. More specifically, in 1892, the trek from Eastern Canada to their Central Alberta oil rich property. I found the lack of connectivity odd.
In my spare time, which is rare these days, I often looked for information on my Grandmother's family. Not much was known pre 1900's. She came directly from the Russian provinces in the early 1900's. She had two sisters already here in Alberta and she was sent for to be the bride of the youngest heir to a farming/landowning fortune. Of Germanic/Russian speaking roots, Bavarian so we now know, she was a perfect match for the Heir apparent. A younger brother followed later, who became a war hero, whom I was close with as a very young child. He is the reason I support the Poppy Fund whenever I can.
With the help of my lovely great aunties and a few distant cousins, we've managed to piece together something of a winding path of Bavarian middle nobility that spins its web through several dynasties of the great families of Europe. We followed the path from Canada, back to Lithuania via Russia, Prussia, France, Bavaria, and back to France.
The whole point to my story is how this relates to who I am today. The characters in the history have turned out to be incredibly colorful. I had no idea when I started this journey what I would find or who I would find. It appears the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, although I have to say, the genetic coding can certainly skip a generation or two in the process. I don't believe my immediate family had ever understood my lust for life and experiences. I believe my artistic/photographic character is directly in line with my distant ancestors.
The oddest thing to see, was a portrait painted in the late 1800's of my Great, Great Grandmother. When I opened the file, it was my grandmother's face staring back at me. Actually... my face, my nose, my eyes but on a female in her 80's. She had a colorful story all on her own. She died in 1905, penniless, in the south of France. I can honestly say, based on what I know now, there are reason's people keep their family history a secret. Sometimes it's best not to know but I am glad I peeked. I can put questions about my own idiosyncrasies to rest as I now know how I managed to be so different from my sisters and parents, but related by DNA.
Travelling the world with my camera to record all the events as they unfold, is who I have been, who I am. The experiences, both good, bad, and some not too far off disasterous, are all par for the course of living.
My fever for adventure, life, and love is all a part of my colorful history. When all is said and done, I am proud to have done the things I have, lived such a massively larger than life existence, and am here to tell the stories today. When people raise their eyebrows at my life stories, I can say I come by it honestly. It's in the genes.
Now on to the next colorful adventure!
Don't forget to check your Compass!
Cole
In fact, my great uncle had written a piece detailing the family tree from the Russian provinces in the 1800's. At the time, not much information could be detailed about my maternal grandmother's family. All we had was centric to my Grandfather's parent's flight from a rapidly evolving communist movement in St Petersbourg. More specifically, in 1892, the trek from Eastern Canada to their Central Alberta oil rich property. I found the lack of connectivity odd.
In my spare time, which is rare these days, I often looked for information on my Grandmother's family. Not much was known pre 1900's. She came directly from the Russian provinces in the early 1900's. She had two sisters already here in Alberta and she was sent for to be the bride of the youngest heir to a farming/landowning fortune. Of Germanic/Russian speaking roots, Bavarian so we now know, she was a perfect match for the Heir apparent. A younger brother followed later, who became a war hero, whom I was close with as a very young child. He is the reason I support the Poppy Fund whenever I can.
With the help of my lovely great aunties and a few distant cousins, we've managed to piece together something of a winding path of Bavarian middle nobility that spins its web through several dynasties of the great families of Europe. We followed the path from Canada, back to Lithuania via Russia, Prussia, France, Bavaria, and back to France.
The whole point to my story is how this relates to who I am today. The characters in the history have turned out to be incredibly colorful. I had no idea when I started this journey what I would find or who I would find. It appears the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, although I have to say, the genetic coding can certainly skip a generation or two in the process. I don't believe my immediate family had ever understood my lust for life and experiences. I believe my artistic/photographic character is directly in line with my distant ancestors.
The oddest thing to see, was a portrait painted in the late 1800's of my Great, Great Grandmother. When I opened the file, it was my grandmother's face staring back at me. Actually... my face, my nose, my eyes but on a female in her 80's. She had a colorful story all on her own. She died in 1905, penniless, in the south of France. I can honestly say, based on what I know now, there are reason's people keep their family history a secret. Sometimes it's best not to know but I am glad I peeked. I can put questions about my own idiosyncrasies to rest as I now know how I managed to be so different from my sisters and parents, but related by DNA.
Travelling the world with my camera to record all the events as they unfold, is who I have been, who I am. The experiences, both good, bad, and some not too far off disasterous, are all par for the course of living.
My fever for adventure, life, and love is all a part of my colorful history. When all is said and done, I am proud to have done the things I have, lived such a massively larger than life existence, and am here to tell the stories today. When people raise their eyebrows at my life stories, I can say I come by it honestly. It's in the genes.
Now on to the next colorful adventure!
Don't forget to check your Compass!
Cole
