Where We Come From: Roots and Shoots

We begin by sharing our experiences of growing up in rural communities with extended family around and continue to reference the influence of extended family throughout the conversation. It is in exact contrast to the experience we had raising our own children and being separated from extended family by either distance or our parents’ death. We touch on genetics and how familial features and health care issues manifest. Exploring the gifts given to us by our parents, education had a huge impact. Strongly encouraged to get further education we work through the reasons for that and the consequences, as well as what influenced our career decisions. How did education change the trajectory of our lives? How did it impact the relationships with our family? We are still growing and learning and processing our early relationships forging our own path, even as we enter our seventies.