Who Do You Think You Are?

Who Do You Think You Are? is a new tv show. Each episode is a different celebrity and we follow them as they trace back their ancestors. Ancestry.com plays a huge role in bringing the show. I'm pretty sure it can't be a coincidence this is airing while the government is trying to get everyone to fill out their census form. But you know what, I really like this show. It makes me want to know more about my family. It makes me want to document what I do know for the generations that follow.

My family is really...difficult. On my mom's side, I don't know all my aunts and uncles. I don't know all my cousins. There are so many. So many divorces and babies born out of wedlock. Just lots of things that make a Luciano family tree really complicated. The Rolon side is a little cleaner but not my dad's branch. My junior year of college, I took a Christian Marriage and Family class. One of our assignments was to do a family tree. I thought, "you have no clue what you're asking me to do." The assignment ended up being the most memorable of my four years. It was also heartbreaking and infuriating. Growing up, my family just felt...I don't even know how to express my feelings.

Timmy's family, on the other hand, is so normal. Mom and Dad love each other. They've been married for 35 years, I think. They have two kids. Each are happily married. Grandmom lives with mom and dad. Pop-pop works at the family business and lives a few minutes down the road. Pop-pop can share the craziest stories of the Kaiser family. Stories like how his grandfather was one of the men who helped establish Folcroft, the town I currently live in. Pop-pop can drive through town and tell you how it used to be and why it's the way it is now. He can tell you where the Kaiser farm used to be and why that one street is named Kaiser Lane. The Kaisers have deep, deep roots in this community and it's one of the things I love most about being a Kaiser. I feel stable with the Kaisers. I think that's what I don't feel most with the Lucianos and Rolons. I lack feelings of stability and of home and permanence. Don't get me wrong, I love the Lucianos and Rolons, but with both sides I felt a little out of place. I still do, I think.

All this to say, I really like this show and it's making me seriously consider joining Ancestry.com. I would love to make more sense of the Lucianos and Rolons. I'd love to document all that information that we do know about the Kaisers. I want to have it for my children and their children and their children's children. And I'd like to have it for me.