To what extent do you know about your family tree? Do your parents or grandparents share with you information about your ancestors?

Friends that I asked around nowadays hardly know much about their ancestors who are beyond their great grandparents. So the same applies for me……..<with regrets>.

I remember having dinner with some China visitors last year when they asked me which province of China did my ancestors come from. I was taken by surprise because we hardly have people asking us such questions, since young till now, and I do not have the answer.  So…..ancestral discovery does not seem to be part of the school education here. When asked about my dialect group (which usually relates to which province of China my ancestors came from), I could only say that some of us and our younger generations hardly utter a word of dialect!

Then, the other day, I asked Darren to draw his version of family tree <after giving him some explanations>. I thought it is a good opportunity to build his awareness.  Having a “multi-national” family background, it is no surprise that the boys are not that adventurous or rather “unfamiliar” with our family tree. My dad’s family is now either residing in Singapore, Hong Kong, or Australia. Papa Ed’s close family resides in Singapore and US.  So, family’s reunions are usually infrequent or made possible only by flights.  I recall those frequent flights but often short trips that I had to make last year, to pay visits to grandpa, uncle, auntie and even my own hubby *sigh*.

Hmmm……Back to the topic of family tree…..since it is often not easy to be near to our immediate family members (except for my parents), Darren’s version of our family tree is like this ……….<It is funny how he got the Seniors in the family to be at the bottom of the family tree and himself on top. And..oops…he has got it as “Family Three” instead of “Family Tree”> .

Seriously, I missed Grandpa’s story telling session about his ancestors whenever I visit him in Hong Kong. He is probably the only one in my immediate family now to be able to share with me our “roots” and “our ancestors”. It will be a pity if we let go of this knowledge:(  I realise now that this rich knowledge of our families’ past and heritage can be so informative. So as this remains a mystery, I am keen to find out:)

As for you, how much do you know about your ancestors? Care to find out? Perhaps, you might be related to the royal families many decades ago *wink*.

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