I sat down yesterday and talked to my mom about my family history. I learned about the Spanish, the Creole, the mulattoes and the negroes. To think I could go back and have this diverse family tree was fun, mostly because living here in the Bahamas I feel like being Creole is seen as something not lovely but ugly, dirty, smelly- in essence repulsive.
My maternal grandmother- Marguerite was the daughter of a very rich Haitian woman (whose mother was mulatto. My great-great grandmother was originally from France.) She had two siblings, a sister who went on to become a nun in Canada and a brother who was a general in the army (before it was corrupt.) My granduncle and aunt donated over fifty acres to the Catholic Church in Haiti & the township that they were from. My grandmother has six children alive and through five of those kids there are thirty-two grandchildren.
She passed away when I was five or six. I never met my grandmother because she lived in Haiti & we lived here in the Bahamas. Through her kids I have heard through stories that she was amazingly warm and wonderful. Her kids remember her fondly. She left them a legacy that cannot be matched many other places. She left for them approximately one hundred and sixty acres for her children and grandchildren. To be related to an Omer means that you are someone in the land of my ancestors- to be related here does not mean much of anything. In Bourne, Haiti I am family to a rich and vast history.
My paternal grandfather was Haitian-Cuban. His mother was a mulatto Haitian lady (who my mom called her Gran Lili) and then his father was from Cuba. Through this merge came children who were world savvy. My grandfather grew up traveling between Haiti, Cuba, the Bahamas and Florida. Growing up with the ability to do this he made the choice to became a merchant as an adult. And just like many merchants of that day he had a lot of children by many different women. My mom estimates that her father had about thirty children, inclusive of the three he had with her mother. Their family makes up another huge family name in Bourne, Haiti.
Learning this goes a long way to make me feel better as a young Haitian-Bahamian woman. What I find interesting is that many times we allow our family histories or how society views us to give us our self-worth. When ultimately we have been given the best family history through Christ’s death upon the cross. When He died and rose again we were reborn into His family at our acceptance of His love and gift. Even as I allow the new information I received lift my spirits up I know that only what is done & gained through Christ will last.
I look at my family history and know that when I stand before God nobody else’s works will get me into heaven- God has no grandchildren. I come from a line of courageous and wonderful people but ultimately it boils down to me. Who I am in Christ’s love, and how I live my life for Him.
In the end remember that no matter how big or small your legacy looks in the eyes of humans God loves and cares for you. No matter what! He has plans for us & He wants to give us a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:10-14). Keep Romans 5:8-10 in your heart and Spirit!
The Diarist
For every moment of our lives is to be taken in and reflected on.
