Christmas of 2021, my grandson gifted me a subscription to Storyworth, a place to write about memories and other things in one’s life, and make into a book.  Each week, a question is sent to my email.  I didn’t really get the hang of it until near the end of my subscription.  Luckily, he gifted me again on Christmas, 2023.

Helen (lyenochka)  has been after me for some time to share my life stories on FanStory.  I haven’t so far because of I was afraid of ridicule.  But now, I’m ready to post.  I hope you find some interest in these stories.  Here’s the first one.

All Things Celtic

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been drawn to anything Celtic.  I knew my great-grandmother, my mother’s grandmother, was a Scotswoman, with a very heavy brogue, I’m told, and thought maybe that had influenced my thinking.  As I’ll explain here, influenced thinking had nothing to do physically with my attraction for all things Celtic.  There’s nothing prettier to my ears than a Scottish accent.

I suspect there was Celtic blood from my father’s mother, too.  Her maiden name was Whitworth.  I looked up the family motto, and it’s “While I breathe, I have hope.”  She married a Turner, and I discovered there was a Clan Turner, part of the Lamont Clan in Argyll, Scotland.  My maiden name is Turner.

I love raining, dreary days, and fog, and the sound of bagpipes brings tears to my eyes.  Why?

Well, I had my DNA tested and found out I am 87% Scottish, and 11% Welsh.  The remaining 2% was listed as unknown.  I suspect that’s German, because my mother’s father’s family originally came from Germany to this country back in the 1700s. All this certainly explains a lot. 

Then, not long ago, I was watching a documentary on the Loch Ness Monster.  It was rainy and dreary where they were filming, and fog patches dotted the landscape.  Then it hit me! 

Years ago, I’d read about inherited knowledge, knowledge that is passed down in our genes just as our hair color and such are.  Things we know how to do, but don’t know how we know it, and feelings and thoughts we can’t account for.  It’s all passed down through our genes.

I was so glad to learn this.  I get so tired of people thinking I’m odd for loving the rainy weather as much as I do.  I’ve always felt quite cozy those days, and it was hard to explain why.  Now I know.  Subconsciously, it takes me back to my origins, and I feel at home.  That’s the best way I can explain it.

It also accounts for how I felt I’d gone home when I visited the UK, and felt homesick when I returned home. 

A few years ago, Stewart gave me a CD of Scottish music, and I’ve almost worn it out.  Hahaha.  I’d like to make my phone ring to “Scotland the Brave,” but I have yet to succeed at that.

There you have it.  I’m not as odd as one might think.  Even so, I have reason for it.  Hahaha