I was out running in the snow last winter.  As I was running an elderly gentleman in a truck rolled down his window and said something like, “Are you from Alaska?”  I kind of laughed, thrown off by what he meant.  Then I looked around and realized that there was some snow on the ground and my hands were a bit numb.  Immediately I felt rather proud – I was becoming “Minnesota Tough.”

I first heard this term on a trip to Minnesota a few years ago.  There I learned about my ancestors from Minnesota – Anton Anderson and Maren Lund.  I learned that they came from Norway in the 1800s and settled in Western Minnesota.  They started out in Minnesota in a little dugout.  They endured blizzards, grasshoppers and an extremely inhospitable climate.  The family eventually grew to eight children.  They built a lovely frame home and then Maren died.  Anton shouldered the task of raising these children alone. Their descendants continued the legacy of farming and cultivating the harsh landscape.  As I was visiting their town in Minnesota there were two sweet little grandmothers who told me that there was a phrase for these types of people – they were “Minnesota tough.”

I have always considered myself kind of a wimp who liked warm bathrobes and fires and reading books.  “Wow! I thought.  I am related to these people?”  I took this term back home and “Minnesota Tough” has become kind of an obsession with my family.  My son tells me I shouldn’t wear gloves or a jacket running – I need to be “Minnesota Tough.”  My daughter doesn’t want to do a work project.  She can be “Minnesota Tough.”  All of us at home are trying to be more “Minnesota Tough.”

I don’t think this is so much a story about me as it is an evidence of the power of family stories in our lives.  Each of us can learn about our capabilities from stories in our past.  We can draw deeply from the waters of yesterday to make our todays more interesting and more beautiful.

I have heard many ancestor stories over the years.  Each story contains a multitude of messages.  My grandfather left my grandmother for another woman.  She never spoke ill of him in all the years that I knew her.  (Be Faithful, Forgive).  The adventurous relatives I visited in Switzerland who told me that “flat is boring.” (Learn to like mountains) My great-grandmother who enjoyed life to the fullest and despite many setbacks and disappointments was still dancing in her 90s (“You gotta make your own happiness”).  My great-grandmother from Czechoslovakia who opened a bakery later in life and created delicious food and beautiful handmade gifts. (“Your last years can be your best years,” “Create”).  

One of the richest legacies that we can find and share with our children are the stories of our ancestors.  What have you learned from your ancestors?