I will admit, mad has strange taste in television programs. Mike enjoys televised sporting events, while I am a sucker for certain procedural dramas. However, we share an appreciation for PBS and documentaries of all shapes and sizes. So it’s not surprising that I’ve been watching the PBS series that sparked the 2009 White House “Beer Summit,” Faces of America. I find myself watching the show with a mix of pride and longing. Mike and I come from salt-of-the earth folks. There are no founding fathers, original settlers, or 600 year-old ancient Asian family histories for either of us. As best as we can tell, there weren’t any mad ancestors inhabiting the new world before 1880. Our grandparents and great-grandparents were farmers, mechanics, salesmen, blacksmiths, bus drivers, and gardeners. No statesmen, no artists, and certainly, no bloggers. But they worked hard to create their own family traditions. As I watch a show that’s all about people seeing generations of family legacy placed before them, thereby renewing their commitment to that legacy, my own commitment is renewed. Because while the legacy we’re a part of in this house is only 67 years old–that seems pretty significant to me. Knowing that we’re not just making a home, but making it in the same place that my pops played ball, learned to read, and learned to drive. It may not be a colonial piece of history, but it works for us.
a mad kind of gothic