How I Became Welsh 🏴 … Part 2
Toasting my second Christmas in Wales are my cousin Connie, Great Aunt Dud, cousins Jean in the back and up front wearing heather, Heather. And of course that’s me with the scruffy beard and . . . a suit and tie?
I sometimes wonder what my life would have been like had I grown up in Wales instead of the United States. Would my mother have died young? Would I have become addicted to alcohol at an early age? Would my life have been better or worse? I have a great life now. I can’t imagine how it could be better, but for certain it would have been different.
Let’s fast forward twenty-one years from my first Christmas in Wales to my second in 1971. I left off last time fleeing New York to Wales and beginning my mission to discover my Welshness, which I did, along with my Welsh family in Tredegar who welcomed me with love and kindness and food…lots of food.
My Aunt Dud, whom I thought was my mother’s sister, was actually her aunt, so I guess she was my great aunt. And great she was! When I showed up unannounced on her doorstep she started crying, and I didn’t know what to do, so I started crying too. She fixed me a cup of tea, then phoned her daughters, who, I realized, must be my cousins. It never occurred to me that I might have Welsh cousins. Jean and Heather were teachers, Connie a nurse. All my New York relatives were longshoremen, bartenders, garbagemen, cops, criminals and construction workers. I never knew I had relatives who were teachers and nurses. It occurred to me that my Welsh family was probably smarter than my American family.
They taught me about Wales, its history, its culture, its language. I learned that Welsh surnames are derived from given names, Davis, Evans, Thomas, Williams, etc. I learned that Wales is an English word that means stranger or foreigner, and the Welsh word for Wales is Cymru (Pronounced Cum-ree), which means countryman or friend.
I learned that Wales has more castles per square mile than any other country in the world. I felt proud. Look at all the castles we built. But then I learned that the English built the castles to subdue the Welsh. Oh. This disappointed me, but then I figured that the Welsh must be tough. Look at all the castles the English had to build to conquer them. And conquer they did. In the Thirteenth Century, Wales became the first English colony.
I love underdogs and Wales is the underdog of Great Britain. Most people travel to The British Isles to visit England, Scotland and Ireland. Ask them why they didn’t visit Wales, and many will say, “Why?” or “What’s that?” I once met a Londoner who wasn’t quite sure where Wales was located.
I wanted to learn more about the land of my birth, so I set out to explore this country I hadn’t known was a country. I wanted to learn more about what it meant to be Welsh. Of course Dud didn’t want me to leave. She wanted me to live with her forever, and I was tempted. We both cried again, Sniff! when I left.
I’ll share more about How I Became Welsh next time. But if you can’t wait, grab a copy of A Tipsy Fairy Tale and learn the rest of the story. Well, most of it.
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Here are some upcoming readings and book signings I’ll be doing for A Tipsy Fairy Tale, A Coming of Age Memoir of Alcohol and Redemption.
January 18, 6:15-7:00 pm – Seaview Hotel, Galloway, NJ. Hosted by Murphy Writing of Stockton University
January 22 – 6:00-8:00 pm – The Liberty 29 W 35th St, NYC. Hosted by New York Welsh
January 29 – 7:00-9:00 pm – The Noyes Museum Arts Garage, Atlantic City, NJ and on Zoom. Hosted by Murphy Writing of Stockton University and The Noyes Museum
