You are currently browsing the monthly archive for March, 2008.
Video: L. Gloyd (c) 2008
I am from tuna fish sandwiches on Wonder Bread,
from Barbie dolls and Stingrays with banana seats.
I am from the rough stucco walls of a small tract house,
baking in the sun of a golden land.
I am from palm trees and sweet gardenia,
from juicy lemons plucked from a backyard tree.
I am from opening presents on Christmas eve
and then again on Christmas morning.
I am from roaming tribes of barbarians,
hardscrabble Yankees and Indiana farmers,
from grips and greensmen on the MGM lot,
from women who made egg custard in blue willow cups.
I am from raucous laughter and bawdy jokes,
from straight-shooting, between-the-eyes honesty.
I am from “what goes around, comes around”
and “everything happens for a reason”.
I am from Congregationalists, Lutherans, Baptists and Mormons.
I am from mediums who had séances in the parlor.
I am by the Book but respect all others who chose a different way.
I glory in the revelation of nature.
I am from a father who took me to the library three times a week.
I am from a mother who drew whipped cream smiley faces on pancakes when I was sick.
I am from faded photographs of straight-laced women in Victorian skirts,
from ancestors I do not know except from notes in a plastic box.
I live in the shadow of the Greatest Generation striving to make a mark in my own.
L. Gloyd © 2008
Studying family roots can be more than just an endeavor in detective work. As much as we enjoy learning about the places, dates and names of our ancestors, sometimes we can come across bits of information about our roots that greatly change our thinking about our present situation.
For example, one bit of information I pulled from the box containing my aunt’s research notes is a document that notes how my immigrant Gloyd ancestor arrived in North America. John Glydd was born in 1655 in Hailsham, Sussex, England. He was a younger sibling in the brood of Richard Glyd (AKA John Glidd*) and Mary Evans. The family must have been of some higher social standing because they had a coat-of-arms.
Then we read this:
“This Indenture witnesseth, that John Glydd son of John Glidd of Helson, in the County Sussex, in England husbandman, of his owne free will doth putt his selfe to Fran Littlefejld, Senior, of Wells, in the County of Yorke. In New England husbandman to learn his art & with his executors & assigns after the manner of Apprentize to serve from ye thirteenth day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred sixty & three, unto the full end & terme of eight years from thence next following to bee fully Compleat and ended/during which terme the sayd Apprentize his maister…” (taken from York Deeds, part I, Fol. 148).
Note the date John was born. Note the date that John “of his owne free will” signs himself into indentured servitude. He was 8 years old. EIGHT! This child got on a ship and sailed a storm-tossed North Atlantic to the wilderness of Massachusetts. Alone. No doubt his parents never thought to see him again. I suppose from a 17th century perspective this was the best thing a parent could do for his child—to provide him with the opportunity to learn a trade and make a living.
To my 21st century perspective, I am aghast.
However, what strikes me here is that whether it is the 17th century or the 21st, people are still being compelled by circumstances outside of their control to leave the home of their ancestors to make a better way. Some came by slave-ship or prison-ship, some because there was simply no way to survive in their homelands. The next time I see a crowd of day laborers waiting for a job at the local lumber yard or the women cleaning houses of my neighbors, I will remember John Glydd. He was not that much different.
And that is the lesson.
Text and Image: L.Gloyd © 2008
(*The spelling of the last name varies, it seems, at the whim of the writer, as well as, from time to time, the first names)
I created a series of short meditations based on illustrated affirmations. Please check them out HERE.
Image: LGloyd (c) 2008
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Image: L. Gloyd (c) 2008
Recent Comments