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November 8, 1966. Election night
My father was running for city council in Milwaukee. My mother was watching the results come in late into the night. Unfortunately dad lost the election. Mom was keeping track of votes on paper along with contraction times, I was number 4 so no big deal. Mom left the house a little before midnight and I was a breach birth at 12:20am. At least dad had some good news after losing the election. Little did I know politics would have a major impact on my cultural view on my life. -
Birthday
Today is the day my cultural journey began in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I was born into a predominately German family with some Slovenian. I am a paternal 3rd generation and maternal 10th generation American. At this time the immigrant desire to be American and less culturally tide to their home country was still strong. Most of our heritage was in the foods we ate especially cookies and pastries. My dad's mother came over in 1915, her parents had tickets on the Titanic but traded them. -
July 20, 1969: One Small Step for Me
Today was my mom's birthday, I was 2 1/2 when my family sat around the tv and watched the moon landing. My first cultural event I remember, I was so happy to be part of a culture that could put a man on the moon. Yes we did have German ancestors but we were brought up to be American.
Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong working at an equipment storage area on the lunar module. This is one of the few photos that show Armstrong during the moonwalk. Credits: NASA -
1971. Iowa travels
My mother was appointed by the governor of Iowa to set up an advisory team developing a statewide health care system. Mom drug me to every county in the state and I would fall asleep at Iowa legislature meetings. All through my life politics has been a cultural influence stemming the immigrant assimilation of being fully American. Give back to the country that has given you the opportunity and freedom to succeed in whatever you wished. -
Famiy Holidays, Early 1970's
Holidays with family had the women and children making dinner while the men would play cards or watch sports on tv. After dinner the kids cleaned up the table and washed/dried the dishes and put them away. The men would go back to playing a card game called Sheepshead which is similar to Spades and the women would talk in the living room. I did notice when the adults were talking about things kids shouldn't hear, the conversations were in German. -
Amana Colonies
To get some German culture we would go to the Amana Colonies in eastern Iowa. My relatives would come over from Milwaukee and we would all spend a week together. We did this every summer from 1970 to 1978 when we moved. If you were curious Amana appliances were made here but so were many wooden handcrafted toys and other things for the home. They also had vineyards in the area and we always stayed at the Holiday Inn with a Holiadome like the one in the old San Angelo Holiday Inn. -
TEXAS
In July 1978 we moved to Texas, to Inks Lake west of Burnet. The lake had so much to do and explore. The diverse flora and fauna fostered my interest in biology and science. At that time we lots of freedom in our lives. I thought I would have to ride a horse everywhere. I was wrong, the people were friendly and courteous. My journey to becoming a Texan had began and I would have it no other way. -
November 4,1980 The Great Communicator
I feel that Reagan brought pride in being an American back. Being alive at this time made my being American even stronger since I was a teenager. I think the 80's were a time when everyone in America was happy because we had pride again. Due to Reagan Germany was united again even though the wall came down during the first Bush presidency. I was happy for Germany because I have German blood but I didn't celebrate in anyway since I have never felt German. -
9/11
Being American I was devastated by the terrorist attacks. I was ashamed that we had such a poor understanding of terrorism that the hijackings occurred. As an American I was disgusted how some politicized the tragedy and the politics has gotten worse. A lot of views were due to the culture of politics in the household. -
American Dream
The American dream is alive in my house. I know if I work hard that I can have what I want. I have been fortunate enough to have had a career at UPS which I retired after 20 years to come back to college and plan for my second career. Makes me proud even though national pride is at a low these days. -
References
July 20, 1969 One small step for me: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo11.html July 1978 Inks lake: http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/inks-lake September 11th photo: http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2013/04/27/1226630/476040-9-11.jpg November 5, 1979 Great Communicator: https://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/1101801117_400.jpg?quality=75&strip=color&w=400
