Processing some big things I recently learned about my family.

Before I take the plunge here, I invite anyone reading to read my "rules," listed below. I am still figuring out my intentions for this space. I guess it might be able to function more like a process-oriented journal. I do not necessarily think it's going to be "community building." I have tried things like that in many regards and feel that I've failed, repeatedly. I'm not a demagogue or group leader, I've always been kind of a depressed loner type who occasionally attracts others. Not so good at community, but pretty good at navel-gazing.

So all that said, please go read the parameters at the bottom of this post. When I want to solicit peoples' input on something specific, I will ask for it.

Now, into the bigger part of it. 

Lately I've been processing and integrating some MAJOR new info I just found out about my family.

I finally just found out about the US-based/Canadian Jewish branches of my family in much deeper detail and for the first time in my life, had not just hurried confirmation that I am matrilineally Jewish.

I always knew but it was never explained to me in detail. I'm still not entirely sure why but I think a big component of why it was never detailed is that my great-great grandfather became estranged from the remainder of his side of the family when he converted to Eastern Orthodox Xtianity in order to marry my great-great-grandma, and roughly about the same time (turn of 20th century) the remainder of that part of the family (including his widowed mom, if I'm not mistaken) emigrated. My mom really only found out more details when she was contacted by a cousin in 2004 via email.

The truth of that is that that could have changed my existence and bullying experiences a lot as a child, and I'm now fully coming to terms with other peoples' prejudices and the bullshit I was subjected to that often intersected with classism and anti-immigrant prejudice. It's A LOT. My experiences at the hands of affluent more US-established Jews were overall not fun. There were no discussions of all of this or even of how patrilineal Jews are fucking valid like there are now. There was no support. Just isolation and wanting to hide.

So yeah.

Some more fun facts about said great-great grandfather:
CW for assassination

-He adopted a long and kind of flamboyant literary name, attaching on the surname of his hometown, which would be the envy of many burlesque performers today.

-He was heavily responsible for helping to raise my Bunica (maternal grandma.) Unfortunately my Mama LaLa (Great-Grandma) had a very hard life including some heavy (and probably circumstantial) mental health issues so my Bunica was raised heavily by her grandparents. It sounds like this G.G. Grandpa (haha that sounds really punk) was very loving towards her.

-Said relative died when my Bunica was 9 months pregnant with my mom, and my mother is named after him. Which is a little curious, since I thought that naming children after deceased relatives was only a Jewish thing. I wonder whether in Romania it was simply a regional thing, but I never asked my mom.

-His parents were tavern owners, I think my mom said in the Moldavian countryside. (Northeast Romania)

-He briefly was in politics and served as a senator/MP--Just call me L. Organa!

-It's my understanding that he translated numerous works of a cultural figure named Nicolae Iorga, and was close friends with the man. Iorga was later assassinated by Romanian fascist commandos in the woods outside of Bucharest for opposing the fascist sympathizing government on the rise in Romania in the late 1930s, which would ultimately place Antonescu's regime in power. My Bunica would have heard the traumatic news when she was 16 or 17. Iorga was a nationalist and supported Romanian autonomy.
That's all I can remember for now!