There is a lot of talk about heritage recently. Some of those conversations surround who our families might have aligned themselves with or where they might have live in the nineteenth century. We seem bound and determined to re-fight the Civil War again.

Who I am cannot be so simple.

Our DNA has bee mixing and remixing for much longer than this country has been colonized. Tracing family ancestry has been a hobby of mine for decades. And there is evidence of a fascinating story that far transcends statuary.

When it comes down to most of us, the whole concept of heritage can get pretty cloudy. Take my direct family an d our involvement in the Civil War. I grew up with tales of valor and a close association with the cause of the Union.

My Great Grandfather Miner belonged to "The Wide-Awakes", a group of your Lincoln activists. My 2x Great Grandfather was responsible for part of the Underground Railroad in Iowa and helped shaped legal decisions surrounding slavery.

My grand fathers brother was a hero of The Wilderness and Gettysburg. Several others fought for The North. Then, in 1967, I changed high schools. to find out from my father that I was related to a classmate who represented one of the oldest Southern families. My grandfather's uncle had been a Brigadier General for the Confederacy. Later research showed that my family was full of blue and gray loyalists and heritage on all sides.

We are more than this moment. We are more than this moment in time. When you dig around in your roots the richness revealed will amaze you. Let nobody try to convince you otherwise. Any attempt to narrow who you are or diminishes the scope of who you can become is insulting. Our story of unification is far more compelling than our story of separation.