This post was inspired by reading this article about the past and present in our local community in the far northwest of the continental United States and having listened to Jorge Drexler and the musicians accompanying him, with hope for the future.
Visit here for English translation of lyrics for "Movimiento."
I continue to be fascinated by DNA testing and genealogy. According to what science has determined about maternal haplogroups, my mother's mother's line of ancestors lived in Syria thousands of years ago. What could have prompted them to leave Syria thousands of years ago? Since the 1800s, every generation in my family has left the place of their birth and moved west, eventually arriving at the Pacific Ocean, where I was born. As a young woman in 1974, I left California and moved north 1000 miles. I never dreamed that I would not be able to return to live in the beloved landscape of my birth.
My only nephew was born in Seattle. His grandfather was from the Philippines. The mother of my nephew's young son has roots in Mexico and the Philippines and Sweden on her mother's side, and her father is Jewish. My nephew seems to be rooted in Seattle but will someday inherit a home near Pune in India that belongs to my sister who has spiritual roots in India. I can only wonder what the future will bring to our maternal family line that can be traced to Syria thousands of years ago. Will we come full circle?
