Ancestry

 To all of my friends

And in particular,

To all of the descendants

Of Bill and Maybelle Wells:

Ancestry:

Did you know, and perhaps you do,

That the grandfather of your grandmother Wells

 was a Jewish Rabbi?

As a Rabbi, his first language was Hebrew

 and in fact

 it may have been his only language.

 As we trace our ancestry further back,

(And I mean each and every one of us),

 it becomes clear that our roots extend

to ever continent and nation on this tiny planet,

 and we would not exist without these roots.

…

Self-Esteem says

“I am as good as you are”

Compassion says

“You are as good as I am”

Pride says

“I am better than you are”

My Pride denies your self-Esteem.

…

There are two versions of the truth

One is based on Compassion

The other is based on Pride.

The one leads to

The brotherhood of men

The other leads to

Hate and war.

...

This country was built by immigrants,

many of which spoke only their native tongues

which include English, German, French, Spanish, Hebrew, Tagalog, Arabic, Hausa, Russian…

 to name a few.

…

As we sing “I Am Proud to be an American”,

we must also be

 Proud of and never forget our ancestry,

Because it is our ancestry

That defines Who we are.