(I think you can click on the picture to look up close)
I was digging through photographs and started to think about time travel and why I like books with that element. And... it's because of my Great Great Grandmother Rosa Flavilla Palacios! I have a horrible obsession with the past and my genealogy. Growing up I didn't look like anybody. Everyone commented on it and I always felt as if I must have been dropped on the door step. I started doing research on my family, most particularly my Mother's father who wasn't in her life much and I'd only met a handful of times - that is when I came across Rosa. There is an obvious resemblance. And finally, I looked like someone! I wasn't the long lost daughter of -insert someone cool-. I went to Colorado a couple years ago to find out more and look through her belongings and I found out, not only do we look alike, but we have similar tastes. She had this huge scrapbook full of lyrics and poems she loved, advertisements she collected, stories she had written, letters she received, knitting patterns she wrote down. Well, I'm a failure at knitting, but you should see all my old notebooks from growing up - filled with lyrics, poems and stories. Isn't that crazy? How someone you may have never known about and seems so far back in the past was so genetically influencing?
I'd do anything, literally anything, to go back in time and meet her and be BFFs.
Which leads to my love of time travel books. I find it fascinating and I really wish I had the ability. In fact, that's what I want for Christmas. K, thanks. I think it also leads to my obsession with history. I think love for history and genealogy may be intertwined, just because they fit well together.
So, what era would you travel to? Who would you want to meet if you could?
I'd love to be able to time travel! Growing up, I was convinced I'd been born in the wrong century. (Now, I'm too attached to hot, running water to protest.)
ReplyDeleteThose pictures are great! Genetics fascinate me. My son is so much like my now-deceased Grandpa that it amazes me...what's really special is that they share the same name. My son loves to hear stories of "Grandpa Joe", and the sense of connection he feels to a man he's never met warms my heart.
Fun post! :)
BJ - I know! I've always felt that way too! I'm always obsessed with everything that has to do with the past. I remember especially growing up I was the only girl or person my age I knew who listened to a lot of classic rock and I still do. I remember thinking I was born in the wrong decade!
ReplyDeleteIt is fascinating how genetics work! Even strange, little things. For instance, my sister who didn't grow up around my grandmother at all, has the same mannerisms as her. Like they make similar gestures and remind me so much of each other it's creepy! I like your example - it's very sweet. It's comforting in a way to know that once we die not everything is forgotten, some things we pass down are in the blood.
It's eerie how much you look like your great great grandmother! I've never thought of history in those terms before. When I think of time travel books it's usually back to the Tudor or Victorian Era. But time traveling back a few generations to visit past family members would be a lot more interesting.
ReplyDelete@Lan - It is, isn't it? Sometimes I still get creeped out by how much we resemble each other! The Tudor era was obsession of mine as a teenager - that would be fun.
ReplyDeleteI love time travel stories, too, although I'm the kind of girl who'd prefer to travel to the future. Although the Sixties would be fun, as well. I would have loved to been around when all the big changes happened.
ReplyDeleteI *love* time travel books as well! Especially the kind where the characters mess up time somehow and it becomes really confusing trying to keep everything straight, hahaha! I would love to travel back to the Victorian era, although I would definitely miss modern plumbing.
ReplyDelete@TG The future could be fun too - I just wouldn't really want to know what happens to me, I think. If I could further than my lifetime or avoid seeing my future self then that would be really fun. I'd love the Sixties. I love the music of the Sixties. The clothes weren't that bad either. And it definitely was an era of change.
ReplyDelete@Jinny Yes! See, you're much more practical minded than I am. I hadn't even considered that. Ahaha! I'd also miss electricity. I can't see worth a hoot in the dark!