Zehr Family reunion
On the last weekend in June, I found myself trekking up north to Iowa. More specifically, I was going to my Zehr family's reunion in Waverly, which is where my Grandma lives. Not exactly a big vacation destination, but if that's where Grandma Flo is, that's where you go.
Even though it wasn't great driving up by myself, the fun part was that I had company for the journey home. My cousin Heidi, my sister and my nephew Malakai all came back to Kansas with me afterwards. We stopped at 2 Starbucks along the way and at the Trader Joe's in Des Moises. Not too shabby.
Minus the fun road trip home, other highlights of Iowa time included watching a few World Cup games with my cousins, meeting my cousin Jenna's baby, hugging my brother's kids and looking through my Grandma's old family photos and asking her questions about her family.
That last one was really what I had been looking forward to the most.
Here's why.
Several months ago, I was attending at "lunch and learn" event at work about the legacy of Vincent Harding. One of the memories shared was the Dr. Harding usually asked people to tell each other about their "mama's mama." This has really stuck with me especially as I continue to "do my own work" when it comes to unpacking whiteness and systemic racism. As a white person that is automatically given privilege in this country with the trade of one's own culture, including ancestry history and stories. (For example, I am a Swiss-German American but I have no idea what the means or the history of my family's experiences. This means that I don't understand how my particular culture differs from other cultures. It's important to understand these differences if authentic diversity will ever truly be celebrated. Thus, it's important to know who your mama's mama's mama was). Really learning about where one comes it key part to taking back one's cultural identity and pushing back on "whiteness" as a culture.
Back to Iowa. My great-grandfather Ira Eigsti (my Grandma's dad) was a really good photographer. (I already knew this). But unlike my Yoder side, this means there are a lot of quality photos for my Grandma's family. It was so fun to dig through these family gems.
Even though it wasn't great driving up by myself, the fun part was that I had company for the journey home. My cousin Heidi, my sister and my nephew Malakai all came back to Kansas with me afterwards. We stopped at 2 Starbucks along the way and at the Trader Joe's in Des Moises. Not too shabby.
Minus the fun road trip home, other highlights of Iowa time included watching a few World Cup games with my cousins, meeting my cousin Jenna's baby, hugging my brother's kids and looking through my Grandma's old family photos and asking her questions about her family.
That last one was really what I had been looking forward to the most.
Here's why.
Several months ago, I was attending at "lunch and learn" event at work about the legacy of Vincent Harding. One of the memories shared was the Dr. Harding usually asked people to tell each other about their "mama's mama." This has really stuck with me especially as I continue to "do my own work" when it comes to unpacking whiteness and systemic racism. As a white person that is automatically given privilege in this country with the trade of one's own culture, including ancestry history and stories. (For example, I am a Swiss-German American but I have no idea what the means or the history of my family's experiences. This means that I don't understand how my particular culture differs from other cultures. It's important to understand these differences if authentic diversity will ever truly be celebrated. Thus, it's important to know who your mama's mama's mama was). Really learning about where one comes it key part to taking back one's cultural identity and pushing back on "whiteness" as a culture.
Back to Iowa. My great-grandfather Ira Eigsti (my Grandma's dad) was a really good photographer. (I already knew this). But unlike my Yoder side, this means there are a lot of quality photos for my Grandma's family. It was so fun to dig through these family gems.
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| My Gram is the youngest one. I also think this could be a Lumineers album cover |
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