I think of the ancestors that my brother, Frank, and I have in common and the few circumstances of which we are aware, which could have gone so differently. For example, my grandfather Pretty survived in a family devastated by tuberculosis. He didn't join the First World War because he had a job on the railway.
Our great grandfather O'Brien left Ireland, under unknown circumstances, and came to Newfoundland. Our great great great great grandfather Pretty came from Somerset, England in the 1770s, across the Atlantic in a sailing vessel under incredibly difficult conditions and survived. All of our ancestors crossed the Atlantic to live and eventually thrive in a harsh environment.
Many of our ancestors fished the North Atlantic in small dories and survived to have families. Think of all the children who died at birth and from disease as babies or youth but our line of predecessors didn't. Think of the mothers who died in childbirth but not our foremothers.
In my own life, there were a couple of times my life was endangered. I almost drowned the year I finished high school, trying to save a friend. Another time, on the way to Grand Falls from Buchans, Rick and I passed a transport truck on the highway. We were in a Chevy Malibu. A part of the muffler of the truck flew off and slammed into the passenger side of the car where I was sitting. Luckily it hit the post between the front and back doors, at the level of my head though. The post was badly dented. This was prior to Claire's birth.
There are thousands of our forefathers and foremothers who survived the circumstances and conditions of their time in human history that led to you and me being here today. In genealogy, we won the lottery!
So much of what happens in our lives is serendipitous. I think our existence involves serial serendipity in fact. Or as some would contend, we are part of the Divine plan.
Enjoy every minute; so many didn't get the opportunity!
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