My Grandma and Grandpa on my Dad's side actually didn't come to Canada very long ago, they immigrated in 1954. My Grandpa's sister and husband-in-law immigrated over to Canada in 1952 and encouraged my grandparents to join them in this new country. My grandpa and grandma didn’t have the money so fly the three of them over (my eldest aunt has just been born) so my grandpa went and worked for a little while and later had enough money to fly my grandma over. My grandma came over to Canada with less than $5.00 in her pocket, but my grandparents tried their hardest and made a life for themselves and their growing family, that was better than it would have been.
In terms of keeping the Scottish culture in our everyday lives, we don't really. We still eat some Scottish dishes including; Meat Pies, Fish and Chips, Shortbread, and Scones. Every time my Grandpa and Grandma come up to watch my brother, sister and I, we always go for Fish and Chips. I guess we created our own traditions with some things coming from their Scottish culture.
On my Mom's side we have the Ukrainians. My great grandmother, my Bobba, and her family immigrated from the Ukraine to Saskatchewan when my Bobba was just a young girl. As a teenager, her family moved to Ontario for job opportunities as most did. Then from there she met the love of her life and although I never knew my great-grandfather, I know he was a good man because he raised my Mom's father and he was amazing. Just like the Scottish side of my family, we still eat Ukrainian food but we don't celebrate much more from the culture which is disappointing. After all the years you lose the culture and once you lose that, it is very hard to get back.
Works Cited
Conroy, Margaret. Interview. 27 Nov. 2017.
I relate to your ancestry in that we also do not have any traditions surrounding our heritage, but the occasional food. My grandparents also had to work very hard when they came to Canada. I enjoyed reading your blog; found it was written very well.
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