Meaningless Meanderings

A Bit of Heritage

St. Patrick's day: a day where everyone is a little bit Irish, no questions asked.

Or are we?

For some, the concept of heritage is a very important thing. American's tend to state where their lineage hails from instead of calling themselves “American”. Ask the person next to you about their heritage and they will respond with “Irish” or “Italian”, or some combination of sorts. But are we even sure of that?

How far back can we trace our lineage? At least to our grandparents, but that isn't enough. What about the family member that brought that blood to America? What do we even know about these people who came from Germany and France, and can we even be sure that they are “Pure German” or “Pure French”? How much farther back can we go from there?

How much do we really now, or care to know, about our ancestors that we incessantly state exist? Why do we even care about such a triviality?

I don't have an answer, or anything resembling one. I just know that today, everyone claims that they are a little Irish. Who am I to argue? Maybe we all really are.