My Roots are Interesting.....

**REPOSTED FROM  ... My Main Blog**

So I have always been interested in my heritage.  I grew up believing I was mostly Irish.  Found out, I'm mostly Norwegian, then Irish.... then German .... with some Holland Dutch, Swiss, and various other Northern European in me.  I have been drawn to Ireland since I was little, so I found it slightly disappointing I wasn't as Irish on one side as I thought....

See.  My Grandfather was my "Daddy" ... in ways.  My Dad didn't get to raise me - through circumstances beyond his control.  My Mom wanted us to stay with family, and he was a Navy man.  He got a divorce from his first wife, and met my mom - they had their relationship - he joined the Navy.... came home on leave, saw my mom .... had to go back and my mom found out she was pregnant.  By then he was being stationed and assigned....   and he met his current wife.  Don't get me wrong, I love my Dad, my Step-Mom and my siblings that I didn't get to grow up with ....   but my Grandpa ...  he was the first love of my life.

(My Mom hiding) Grandpa and I. <3

 I have to add ...  I went through this phase when I was little.  Because I didn't have a Daddy I would be-raid my mom with crap. I remember all this.  I confronted her one day, actually I think it was more than once.  I had it all FIGURED OUT!!!  I didn't have a Daddy because....  da-da-dum! (that was a drum-roll-ish type thing in case you were wondering) ....  I WAS OBVIOUSLY ADOPTED!!!

My mom just rolled her eyes and pulled out my baby book and said ....  See - this was you when you were born.

Um........ really?   That's me ....

With lead to a whole new conspiracy theory ...  I WAS SWITCHED AT BIRTH!!!!  That baby is too dark, and black hair?  No way is that me. Did you see the picture above that?  I was about a year old....  ghostly pale skin, blonde....  really?  No way... 

Well, I've come to accept it ...  that is me .... trust me, I gave birth to that 32 years later....

My little Mini-Me.

Regardless.  After I moved on from that theroy ....  I moved onto greater pastures.   MOMMY WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE A BABY????  I WANT A BROTHER OR SISTER!!  Oh Lordy, I had some spunk didn't I?

My Mom got in contact with my Dad and Step-Mom.  Found out I had a baby brother who was 3 years old (to my 5 yeas old) ... and we got to meet!  First time I met my Daddy was when I was 5.

My Mom, Me (age 5), Dad, My Brother (age 3), & My Step-Mom

I would also end up with a little sister, and found out I had two older sisters.   Which I thought was super cool!!  My Mom, well, she wasn't going to have anymore kids.  Infact, right after I was born she told my Grandma that she wasn't going to get anymore kids from her, she better start bugging her sons.  She did have seven of them....  living.   My Uncle Lance had been a twin and they lead my Grandma to believe my Uncle Lance would die because he was the weaker and smaller of the two babies....  being back in the early 1960's ... they didn't have the same technology that we do now...   but... my Uncle Lynn ended up aspirating which caused him to die at 2 days old.

My Dad and I had a distant but ... I think.... great relationship.   One reason being any anger I had, was my issue - not his.  I knew he was doing the best he could.  I knew my sisters blamed him for a lot.  My Grandparents (his parents) didn't even want to see me because I was the illegitimate mistake that happened between his marriages.  I was.... am....  the bastard child.

So what, I embrace it....  I mean really.   I know all parties involved were just doing what they felt was right.  They did the best they could.  Why hold onto such things and let them define you when only YOU can define you.  And my Dad really puts a lot of blame onto himself, and I don't think it's necessary ....  I KNOW he did the best he could.  That's fine.  I'm good with what I got :)  It's better then what a lot of kids get....   all I needed to know was he loves me :)  And I do know that.

Regardless... it's not the way I wanted to be defined.   So I would suck up any attention I got from my Dad and love it.  We would talk on the phone, write.... etc.  I think - today - we have a great relationship.  It's not ideal but I love him dearly.  I love my step-mom and she has embraced me as her own in ways. It's much the same way I feel about the Princess.   I may not have gotten the honor to meet my step-daughter yet - but I love her.  She's part of our family - the boys know about her, she's not referred to as the "step-sister" or "half-sister" but their SISTER.  Period.

I always wish I was closer to my siblings.  I always longed for that sister relationship.  SO I seek it out with my best friends. 

Anyway - back to my Grandpa.... I got off on a wild tangent there.

So ....   originally I thought the following.

My Grandfather was adopted.  - TRUE....   he was adopted by his Father's sister ....   so why?

Well, I thought (had been told) that my Grandpa's parents died when he was a baby.   also TRUE....  Only I thought his Mom died first and then his Dad.   I knew that - at least - his Mom died of Tuberculosis ...  and I suspected that his Dad did too.  Upon some research (mostly done by another family member - thank you Dawn!) ....  I found out this was untrue.   Well.... at least part of it.  My Great-Grandfather died before my Granfather was even born!  Yep.... he never got to meet his son.

I also found out - when I was younger - that my Grandpa had a sister, Aunt Irene....  which I thought was super cool and didn't realize until I was older that's where the relationship was to all these 2nd cousins I had (that were my age).  I also found out he (my Great-Grandfather) was married before to a Hattie M. GUELDNER - who was born in 1887 and they had a daughter they named Marion,  I don't know much about Hattie, I can't find any info on her.  I'm not sure if she died and that's why my Great Grandfather remarried or what...  but it's interesting.  Oh I do know she was born in Nebraska and her father was born in Wisconsin and mother was born in Iowa .....  but that's it.  I'd like to know more. 

Anyway - My Grandpa was born 5 July 1921 and my Great-Grandfather William died 2 Feb 1921 ** Note: After talking to my Grandfather's Sister's Daughter (did you follow that?).... I found out the second date I saw for William's death was the correct one and he dided November 2nd 1921 ... not Feb 2 .... so he died when my Grandfather was almost 4 months old)** of Turberculosis.... my Great-Grandmother Olga also had it.....  (huh, I put together he died on my Mom's birthday......)  Well into the pregnancy, but not  even close to when he was born.  Aunt Irene was only about 16 months old. 

So after my Grandfather was born, my Aunt Irene was given to one of Olga's relatives and my Grandfather to my Great-Grandfather's sister.... Louisa and her husband Gail.  They raised my Grandpa since he was a baby....  My Great-Grandmother Olga thought she was dying of Tuberculosis, so she gave my grandfather up right away, and his sister.  My Great-Grandmother ended up living a few more years.  She got re-married in 1923 and ended up dying from Tuberculosis on November 14, 1924. 

So my Grandfather was adopted and raised by his aunt and uncle.  I knew this growing up (might have heard some facts wrong) but .....  I was really interested in his biological parents, of course...  because that's where the heritage comes from.  I found out the Irish I thought existed with him - didn't.  William was German (and upon reading more into the Thalacker side, which is going to be next to impossible to find out about - is also most likely Swiss.)   And Olga is - of course - 100% Norwegian.

We had never seen pictures of William or Olga (at least I didn't) growing up.  Now - thanks to a website called Find A Grave, I saw my Great-Grandfather William for the first time.

William F. Thalacker 1882-1921 - My Great-Grandfather ...

My Mom and I both looked at it and thought that my Grandfather favors his Dad .... The picture is a little distorted due to it being on his gravestone.  Which is.....

And then today - I saw my Great-Grandmother Olga for the first time.  My (cousin whatever removed) Dawn shared these pictures today .....  the pictures she sent were orange - so I did the best I could to bring out some detail and more appealing....

 Great-Grandma Olga is the little girl smack dab in the middle.

and then it dawned on me why I couldn't find her grave - since I had completely forgotten that she had remarried the year before she died.  So I managed to find that - also.  Dawn confirmed this is her gravestone. Olga Johnson (Thalacker/Larson)

Which I realize she also has a picture of...

And Dawn said she was going to try and locate some of the older pictures of Olga she has.  So I'm really excited to see those too. 

I think I may need to create a Genealogy Blog since I'm finding a lot of neat stuff.  And - I'm doing my ex-husband's line also - so that my older two kids know their heritage on his side.  (Not to mention Calahan is learning about it in school and super interested in his German side right now)....

For example:  I found out that my older two boys are the direct decedents of King Henry III of England, King Edward the I of England, King Edward the II of England, and King Edward the III of England.... (Some of these Kings were also entitled "Lord of Ireland" also)  a ton of other nobility and a few other kids (and more I haven't uncovered) .... including a French King ... 

Yep, I think it's time to create another blog to my collection....