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19th Century Modern

~ A blend of 19th Century interests in a Modern Day life

19th Century Modern

Tag Archives: Mexican

Testing, Testing 1-2-3

29 Friday Jul 2016

Posted by Doyenne in Historical, Modern

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

2016, 23andMe, Ancestry, Deaf, Family, Family History, Genealogy, Genes, Heritage, Medicine, Mexican, Mexican Revolution, Mexico, Mother, Science

 

Family legend states my material grandmother was born into a wealthy Mexican household at the beginning of the 20th century. She told fabulous stories of haciendas, servants, nannies, clothes, toys, and sitting on piles of gold coins in the counting house. Then the Pancho Villa and his rebellion came riding through. The rebels held her parents hostage on their knees, while others ransacked their home. The leader of the band asked my great-grandfather for the heirloom Spanish Conquistador guns in his office, he flatly refused. Incensed, the leader leveled the pistol at Great-grandfather’s head. My great-grandmother threw herself at the leader’s feet and begged for mercy. “Take the stupid guns and spare our lives!” This is coming from an aristocratic lady who spent most of her days hosting, reading, singing, playing the guitar on the stage, and speaking Chinese to her sister in words of private. The leader, then, took the guns amongst the other valuables and, as a parting gift, torched their hacienda along with all records. My great-grandparents watch the rebels ride off to the North kicking up dust, as flames rose up scorching their estate around them.

My mother has always desired to know what those records said. How did her grandfather come into his wealth? Who were his parents? Was it true about the French, British, and Scandinavian blood that runs through her veins? Now that my grandmother passed away last November, mother’s desire to uncover her roots have reignited. I have persuaded my father to go ahead and have her DNA tested. He acquiesced and she is DELIGHTED!

My great-great-Grandfather on my mother’s side came from France as a French Solider. Their  surname, if not the family, stems from the region of Normandy, France supposedly. History tell us that Normandy was settled by the invaders from the northern Scandinavia, including the Celts and Gauls. Romans, Saxons, and Germanic tribes also made an appearance in the region.

Where my maternal great-grandmother comes from is quite the mystery, other than she was an Mexican with the last name of Val. For most Mexicans, there is some expectation to have “Indio blood,” such as from the Maya, Aztec, and other indigenous cultures. As for what other nationalities are mixed in from her side is unknown.

Enter 23 and Me. The home DNA testing kit. While, other genealogy DNA kits may be a bit cheaper, they only focus on ancestry origins. 23 and Me is unique in that it also determines traits of serious medical issues and physical traits, as well as quirky bits such as susceptibility for unibrows. #VitalInfo! Some people are not interested in the medical portion of the their DNA and that’s their prerogative. However, my mother will be using 23 and Me to rule out her genes in relation to my hearing impairment. My brother and I have severe hearing loss that was diagnosed at ages 6 and 4, respectively. While we both had high fevers as children, we cannot rule out genetics. We all have a sneaking suspicion  the deafness comes from my father’s family even though he doesn’t show signs of it. My mother wants a peace of mind to know that our “troubles” weren’t her fault because something was wrong with her genes. So we hope to rule her side out with the results from her DNA test.

We would not be surprised if her genes show up with British, German, French, Italian, Native American (from South America), Scandinavian, or Spanish ancestry, everything else will be a revelation. Lactose intolerance? Sweet-bitter? Marathon or Sprint runner? I will certainly keep you updated, Dear Readers. We are eagerly waiting the results which should take about month to analyze and retreive.

For Book Lovers Only

24 Wednesday Feb 2016

Posted by Doyenne in Historical, Modern

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Tags

1800s, 19th Century, 2016, Abe Lincoln, American, Art, Author, Biography, Christian, Hispanic, History, Indians, Literature, Mexican, Military, Native Americans, Novel, Occult, Opera, Painting, Paramormal, Pre-Reads, Regency, Romance, Slavery, Society, Stephen Austin, Victorian, War, Western, Women

Portrait of a Girl Reading by Thomas Sully, 1842

Pre-Reads are here! Which means it is the last Wednesday of the month! What a blur of activity I’ve had this February! According to my calendar I had literally 25 days worth of appointments and play dates scheduled! So it’s nice to eek out some time for our much beloved book post!

 

Below are eight fiction titles and eight non-fiction titles of recently published, soon to be published, or re-released (in the case of non-fiction) books coming out this month. The titles are highly reviewed via Amazon, Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus Review, Library Journal, and Baker and Taylor’s website. Non-fiction, as its nature, is harder to find reviews for, but nevertheless I have combed through many sources to bring you readers all sixteen of these 19th century inspired titles. I try to present a well-rounded collection and not lean to heavily in one sub-genre or topic. In other words, there should be something for everyone! Due to their recent publication dates, I have not had the pleasure of reading any of these myself so I will be unable to assist you with a personal Reader’s Advisory pitch. Look for yourself and see if anything strikes your fancy. Which ones will you place on hold at your local library or bookstore? If you have read any of them already, do you agree with the review and recommend the title? Let us all know!

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