This past week end Phil and I attended his Aunt Laverna’s funeral in
Winnipeg. Hundreds of people, family, friends and relatives were there to
celebrate and honor the life of a woman who had touched their lives in many
different ways. The service brought smiles, tears and laughter to many of our
faces, because as we listened to the eulogies we not only remembered the
truths about this special lady, but we were also drawn in and connected to the
wider family traits that we recognized in so many of ourselves, our spouses and even our children. We were reminded of rich threads of family heritage (ok, maybe not all good but oh, so many
beautiful ones) that have impacted who we are and the choices that have given
direction to many of our lives.
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| The P.D Reimer family ( Phil's mom Amanda is the daughter with the long black hair) |
Phil's family comes from a long Mennonite heritage. Moving
to Steinbach, Manitoba this year, I have been reminded of how extensive the Mennonite
family connection goes.
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| That's my cute hubby in the middle! |
Usually when
meeting someone new the conversation goes something like this:
-Me: “Hi, my name is Tammy
Peters”…. "My husband's is Phil Peters".
-Other person: “ Is he
perhaps the son of John J. Peters?” (You have to add middle initials in this town
because there are so many people with the same name)
-Me: “Yes he is”
-Other: “ Oh I know John Peters.
His wife Doreen is my wife’s second cousin, we went to school
together. That would make your husband
and I second cousins once removed..or something like that.”
I usually just smile and nod, but inside there is a nice feeling
of belonging and having roots to a place, a country and a people group,
something the third-culture-kid side of me has had very little of.
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| Grandma Reimer- She prayed for all of her 11 children and 56 grandchildren every day! |
I’m discovering this year that character traits which I, for 26
years of marriage with Phil, thought were unique to his person, are actually traits
very typical of his Canadianess.
His diplomatic, non attention-seeking,
friendly, consensus-seeking, peacemaking, persevering way are traits
that run deep within this Mennonite community.
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| Opa doing alternate service as a conscientious objector in B.C |
The Mennonites are a group of people who stood for what they
believed. Standing up for what they believed in was so important that they left
their country of origin and resettled in some new place that offered freedom of
belief. There they were given the worst bits of land (in Ukraine).
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| Opa (on left) in the Ukraine (1925) |
From there they moved on to many places in the Americas where they worked and persevered and
eventually prospered.
They are a people
of faith, perseverance, strong family values and peace which are admirable
traits, but when you spice that up with wit, laughter, straight-forwardness and
lots of love (yes those Peters men have a lot of love to give) it makes for a great
family heritage to be a part of!
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| Opa and Michael |
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| Peters 2011 family gathering for Opa's 90th |
What in your heritage has made you who you are today? We love
to point out the bad, but there is
most likely loads of good thread that God has used to make you into the tapestry
you are today.
This year on the prairies I am learning to see it,
embrace it and even be a bit proud of it... eh!
France: As most of
you know I grew up in France, spending 10 years of my life there (between the
ages of 6-16). In France on May 1 we
were allowed to pick the little white flower, lily of the valley, in our local
forest. We then bunched them into little bouquets and gave them to our friends
and neighbors. It symbolized a “good wish”, a “blessing” for their future. To me it was a friendly way of telling our
friends we cared about them and hoped to get to know them better in the future.
