REVISIONIST GENEALOGY

Revisionist Genealogy 2010

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Since the last entry of my

family history, I have learned

a lot of the family tree written down

by recent relatives now passed,

is inaccurate.

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This means I am honor bound

to correct the tree, to revise the

biographical pages.

This means I have

been living in the presumption of

a family heritage that did not exist,

at least as previously put forth.

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In a way, this feels like a reprieve.

There is new hope of the chance

to retrieve a better tradition,

a new theory of relativity.

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We did not descend from an

ancestor arriving on the Mayflower,

unless he came on a later voyage.

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Each documented truth removes

me one more step from the

family dysfunction where I grew up;

from the family where I never fit;

and from which I was exiled.

That family remains

in the perpetuated state

of false recollections of a pedigree

that did not exist. Ironically, it is they

who have been disenfranchised.

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I am freed by the truth by which

I have intuitively lived, and from this

new perspective, realize

I am the one with a legacy,

to pass on to the world.

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To Those who read this blog, I apologize for misleading anyone by the mistaken information I posted here. I am profoundly sorry for my part in perpetuating these errors. I have, however asked others who found the discrepancies to let me know and I would correct them. And slowly, I will do so. My poem above reflects the humor I see in this situation.

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The picture of the model of the Mayflower, and the writing about its history came from the 1957 Collier's Encyclopedia.

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Writing on this post is the Copyright © of Ruth Zachary, Mistakes included.