My daughter finally finished the book “Outliers: The Story of Success” by  Malcolm Gladwell, that I wrote about in an earlier blog, and she mentioned another interesting tidbit, “…that it matters where you are from.” We’re talking grandparents, great-grands, great-great-grands and down the line.

Now mind you, I haven’t read the book. I’ve only listened to summaries of certain sections from my daughter. And as she explained interesting revelations from this writer, backed by certain studies, I found that I didn’t always agree with it, but I did like that it was thought-provoking and now my daughter was interested in where she came from.

“I’ve got the start of a family tree.” I told her, “And papers from both sets of your grandparents that you can sort through.” And just days later, when my daughter was talking to her great-grandmother on her 95th birthday, she learned more about where she came from including the fact that she is distantly related to Jesse James, a legend in the old west (not necessarily a good one as he and his gang robbed trains and banks).  My daughter was hooked. Down came the box filled with blood lines and old photos.

Writing Prompt: Write about where you came from…