Roots

I just want to add a little to what Julia wrote about Gypsies. I have been doing research that focuses more on modern-day Gypsies and we both thought it was interesting that we came across some contradicting information; even though the Gypsy people tend to be very traditional, their culture has changed over the years. One thing I found that our group might find interesting is that many Gypsy families travel during some parts of the year but still have a home base that they return to, say, every winter. They also constantly call other families whether they live three or three thousand miles away. Both of these things made me realize that although the Gypsies travel and may seem to have no roots to the outside world, they may even have stronger roots than the average person.

I think it might be interesting for us to think back on where we all decided to spend the last ten or so years leading up to age 70. How many of you chose to return to the same area that you grew up in? Also, how often do you think of calling home and how often do you actually call home? How about other relatives. When was the last time you spoke to an aunt, uncle, cousin...? Even though we have places that we call home 365 days of the year, we still might not be as rooted in our families as some of the Gypsies are. Just something to think about...

Lauren Abend