I had an older, fiesty, Romanian patient this week. He's lived in Canada since the 1960s but still carries a strong accent, and strong eastern european personality! After having him as my patient for 3 days, and knowing only my first name, he asked me, in his delightful Romanian accent (Note to reader: incorrect grammar intended)"Where from your family in europe? Where your father and mother come from?" I giggled at his question, knowing he had recognized some of my treasured slavic traits, and said "Well, my dad's parents are from the Ukraine/Poland area..." "AHA!" he exclaimed. And circling his face with his hand, he said "I could tell...I can see it!" Not to forget my british heritage that I hold dear, I interjected "Ah, but my mom was born in England!" "No matter!" he said. "It's always you are who your father is. Generation after generation - it comes from the father." I told him my last name was Michalski, and he then listed the names of his doctors: Bozinovski (which he pronounced "Bozonovski") and Novak...somehow pleased for his medical team of eastern european heritage all the way over here in Victoria, BC Canada.
It had me wondering, wondering about my real heritage. I know little of where my family came from, only tidbits really. And it's a treasured heritage, because it's mine. It's the heritage that has me greeting my Ukrainian patients with the few short Ukrainian phrases that I know (translated they are: "How are you?" "Very Good" "Praise God!" "I want to eat" "I want to sing"...and then I tell them that my grandpa was a pastor of a Ukrainian church...and it all comes together!). It's is the heritage that has me telling my proper English patients that my mom was born in England, or my grandma was born in Wimbledon, and was a war bride...and instantly we have bonded over a love for a good cuppa', reverence for the monarchy or appreciation of English countryside.
If only I knew more...
I think I'm going to call my grandparents now, or maybe write them a letter, and see if they might tell me of their heritage...of my heritage.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
hmmm... I think I feel a little trip to the homeland coming on for you!! That's the only way to REALLY discover who you are!!!
I wrote a paper on war bridges when I was in university for one of my Canadian history classes. You definitely should have a chat with your grandma about what her experiences were like. I would be interested to know too. They are a pretty amazing group of ladies. There were over 50,000 of them from world war II. And any time you want to go the the UK, let me know... I'll want to ride in your suitcase !!!
errr... that would be war brides!! typing on a laptop....
First of all - giggling at celtic siren and her (or his?) correction of grammar. Because I actually believed they wrote a paper on war bridges. Very possible....
Yes, the 'old country' is calling you Elise. You should do some research on your English family tree. I've done a lot on mine and it's fascinating. My Grandma (who lives in Sidney) was also a war bride and the stories are endless.
Post a Comment