I owe my existence to a drunken Irishman.
My ancestor was heading to Australia with his brothers but got drunk, missed his boat and got stuck here in Auckland instead.
What if he had not been drunk that day? Would I be an heiress to the Grace Brothers dynasty, speaking with an Aussie twang... or would I exist at all?
I've been thinking about the near-misses in my ancestry. If just one thing had been changed... where would I be?
What if my great-grandmother had not run away from her marriage to New Zealand when my grandfather was two years old? Would I be eating Cornish pasties in Redruth, England... or would I exist at all?
What if my grandfather had chosen a different boarding house to lodge at, instead of my grandmother's aunt's place? Would they still have met? Fallen in love? What if they hadn't? My mother would have never been born. So where would I be?
What if those Irish boys on my dad's side didn't have such a temper? Would they have beaten up their landlord and had to run away to the coast to avoid incarceration or hanging? What if the first ship they found had been headed to America instead of Downunder? What if the ship had sailed straight to Sydney instead of going via Auckland? My drunken great-grandfather would not be buried somewhere in the old Symonds Street cemetery. I wouldn't be a Kiwi... if I existed at all.
What if my mum had stayed home the night of that party in 1968? What if she never met my dad?
What if she'd gone ahead and married The Ugly Pom or Dave Crawford... or one of her many other beaux... before my dad had the chance to chat her up?
What if my dad wasn't a Catholic? What if she hadn't listened to him and had taken the contraceptives...? Would I have been born later... or not at all?
My existence hinges upon a series of coincidences. My world-travelling ancestors united from all points of the globe to eventually cross paths and get me born... Romania, Italy, Ireland, England...
Our children continue the tradition of near-misses.
What if Mr G's dad hadn't remarried and moved to New Zealand...? What if Mr G had decided to continue to Australia after visiting his long-lost dad (as he had planned)?
What if he wasn't lost that day on the way to his job interview? What if he'd asked someone else for directions instead of that pastor's wife out weeding her garden? What if she'd never challenged him to think about why God brought him to this country...? What if he didn't turn his life over to God... move to Auckland... find a flat with some guys who went to my church...?
The chances of us meeting when we are from opposite ends of the earth, and opposite sides of life (party-boy meets goody-two-shoes-girl) are mighty slim.
But somehow we managed to hook up and create some pretty special little people. Without this combination of "me and him" where would Dash be? Miss Fab? Scrag?
Eek. Sometimes when you stop to think about all those near-misses, its rather frightening.
What if? What if? What if?
But its OK. The planets lined up, the Irishman missed his boat and here we are.
Phew.
♥
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Inspired by looking at my littlest one and asking, What if we never had him? He is such a treasure and we nearly didn't go there... that one question led to others and before long I find its an absolute miracle I even exist.
{Writing Prompt #2 For Mama Kat's Pretty Much World Famous Writers Workshop}
