Raising teens again!

It’s amazing to reflect on how many nationalities are represented in my birth family, my family, grandkids & great grandkids! My mom’s side is Norwegian & German & my dad’s side is Scottish & Irish. A British Customs agent once rolled his eyes at me when I stated this due to his question. He said-“Ma’am, YOU are American.” He must have gone home that night & told his wife about the crazy lady from the U.S., but I digress!

My hubby is of Irish descent, so our grandkids are all these plus Haitian, Thai, Polish and so many more, & of course they are all great looking! They are spread all over the country, but we are blessed to have 7 of the 28 living here in Anchorage, plus a great granddaughter, my first, but David had 12 before her.

The two granddaughters that live with us, along with that great granddaughter in this house, have been a blessing to us the past 2 years! They are both so busy now, being 20 & 18, that we don’t see them a lot, although I get to watch baby twice a week plus little bits of time in between. This baby has no idea how blessed she is to have her mixed heritage.

This week I brought the 9 & 7 year old granddaughters to a small cultural event where we loved seeing the native dress from Mexico, Guatemala, the Philippines, Alaska & South Korea, and some of the dances too! Khloe & Aubrey were too shy to do the German polka that I had taught them that day, but it was wonderful when one of the ladies from Mexico, dressed in red & white, quickly volunteered to jump right in and dance a few steps with me!
Maybe next year the little girls will do a dance because they love to dance & they loved the event! They clapped along to everything.

I was glad to have been invited to that event, in part because it reminded me of traditions that we had in Wisconsin, but more importantly it made me grateful to live in a place where cultural diversity is celebrated. I was humbled to be invited into that volunteer group many months ago, & each time I go I feel blessed. It reminds me of my many ESL students from all over the world, that I had taught for 12 years. I miss them, although a lot of them are friends on Facebook.

We truly are blessed to live in this country, and I hope that everyone could experience the richness of other cultures just as I have. ☺️