52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 52 Prompt - You

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 52

Prompt – You

Amy Johnson Crow, the author of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks said about this prompt; “we have to remember that we are part of our own family history.”

Jackie gave me an awesome present for Christmas this year. She presented me with a published book of my 2018 genealogy blogs. It is named Turtle Lady Genealogy 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks (2018). To say the least it was very emotional to see my blogs in book form with its own ISBN. That stands for International Standard Book Number which is a unique number identifier for the book.  All published books have their own unique ISBN.  It's incredulous to me that words I have written end up in a book that is published with an ISBN. 

The Front Cover of My Genealogy Book

The Back Cover With ISBN.

I have been asked many times where I got the name “turtle lady”.

When I was about 8 years old I got two live pet turtles for my birthday. Our family already owned a cat and dog. But these two turtles (Hokey and Pokey) were mine and I was the one looking after them. It had one of those small plastic bowls with a green plastic palm tree attached to it. It was my responsibility to feed them and clean the bowl. I am sure that mom and dad did most of the cleaning up after them. I don't know how long I had them but I believe it was less than a year. One day they disappeared. I was sad but when you are that age things come and go out of your lives so often.

Over the next few years I would be attracted to various ornaments of turtles. I was given some of these ornaments as special presents but many I bought for myself.

Shortly after I started dating Bill in 1972, he presented me with two live turtles and built an aquarium size tank to put them in. He had read that turtles needed to eat under water so it had to be deep enough for them to submerge in. Also we built an island on one end of the aquarium and put a light bulb over top of it so that the turtles could climb up out of the water to dry off. Initially we put some fish in the aquarium to add some interest. However one by one the neon fish disappeared. I guess my turtles thought they were delightful snacks. Besides sushi, aka the neon fish, they loved eating meat such as hot dogs and chicken. We fed them and they grew. They moved with us to our first apartment after we were married and one year later they moved with us to Regina where Bill got his first engineering job. In the meantime my collection of ornamental turtles was ever expanding.

I don't believe we ever gave the live turtles names and I don't know why. We had them for about 7 years. They were about loonie size when we got them and grew to be about the size of our hand. One grew a bit bigger than the other. He bullied the smaller one. The smaller one seemed to have trouble staying right size up in the tank. The bigger one took to chomping on the little ones toes relieving the little one of part of his back toes. Really!  Eventually we decided to take him to a vet and have the little one put down. I know we kept the remaining turtle for a bit longer after Jill was born because I have pictures of her leaning against the tank tapping the glass to get the turtle's attention. I think in 1979 or 1980 we gave him to Bill's sister and brother in law to have. A few years later I think they passed it on to some friends. I do not know the fate of our turtle.

I realized that turtles were very symbolic in my life. As a preschool child whenever we had company I would run and hide. I remember hiding under mom's apron once. I also hid under our kitchen table. If one was to startle a turtle the first thing they do is disappear inside of their hard shell. Over time they would slowly “come out of their shell”. The turtle understood my need for safety, security and solace. In solace I gather my strength to move forward in my endeavors. Like the turtle, I would eventually come out.

Turtles have long lives. This could be symbolic of it's persistence and endurance. Longevity is not a strong gene on the Peters side of my family. I would like to think that I was very persistent through my life to achieve goals such as being a nurse. Isn't there an old adage that “slow and steady wins the race”?   I would like to think that I lead my life living by these principles.

When I turned 50 I decided to get a turtle tattoo. I had always admired my father's arm tattoo that he got while at war. Apparently he and some buddies got drunk, got the tattoos and dad was just damn happy that he got the right name on the tattoo – Vivian! None the less I did not get drunk to get my tattoo. I wanted to do something that was so out of character of my shy, quiet, unassuming person. Tattoos at the time seemed rebellious. While in Vancouver visiting my daughter, Jackie we had got tattoos at the same time. I got a cartoon type turtle just above my left outer ankle. 

2004 - My Turtle Tattoo.

I have never regretted getting tattooed. In fact a few days after getting the tattoo, my co workers at the Doctor's Clinic presented me with a turtle shape birthday cake. One of the doctors came in and asked why the turtle. The ladies encouraged me to lift my pant leg to show them my tattoo. The doctor's jaw dropped and he choked out a “ of all the people in this room you would be the last person I would have guessed of getting a tattoo!” That right there was what I wanted. I wanted not to be taken granted for. 

However it did take a couple of years before I would show my tattoo off to my mother-in-law. That is I consciously wore long pants when around with her. However one hot summer day in Saskatoon I was wearing capris and her very sharp eyes which had not yet succumbed to macular degeneration spotted my turtle tattoo. Not much was said.

From my first live turtles and through the years I have received and bought many turtle ornaments, plushies and every other knick knack one could possibly think of. So in a way I became that proverbial “cat lady” only I was the “turtle lady” and my turtles aren't living.

Wendy