Johan887
03-18-2015, 05:31 AM
Growing up my mother said she was English, and I was half English, half South European. Although I took after my mother, people kept saying I looked foreign. My mother and I are naturally tan all year round, people found that odd. A few years ago, my mother was signing something and signed with her last name also. The person at the counter asked if it was Hebrew/Yiddish, she said yes. After this I decided to research my family in my area. I found some pictures and one was an 1800's photo of one of my relatives/ancestors, with her Hasidic husband. I asked my mother what the word 'ashkenazi' meant. She did not know and asked me why I asked her. I told her according to research her family has ashkenazi roots. She replied with 'oh, is it Jewish?' and didn't seem too impressed. Looking at my nephews, they don't look 100% English either, and they all have black hair. Is it strange my mother hid this? I grew up culturally 100% English though Christmas was really more like a bank holiday with presents, not some big celebration. Family never came around.