The Friday Five on a Sunday

1. How far back can you trace your family tree?
   That depends on which side of the family (maternal or paternal) we’re talking about. I have distant relatives who have done a lot of work tracing back the ancestry of various people from my grandparents’ generation to the late 1700s / early 1800s. However, there are also substantial gaps, particularly on the paternal side. I couldn’t tell you the names of my great-grandparents on that side.
   
   
2. What is the most interesting (or strange) thing you've heard about one of your relatives?
   I knew that one of my great-grandparents had been a chemist at Eastman Kodak, but until recently I hadn’t gone and looked up the various patents he filed in the mid-20th century.
   
   
3. How do you feel about legacy names like John Henry Smith IV or naming children after other relatives?
   I think whatever other people choose to do about naming their children is their business, although if you name your child something like “SanDeE*” I may have to fight the urge to judge you for overcomplicating the administrative burden they’ll endure for the rest of their lives.
   
   
4. Would you consider yourself and/or your family to be traditional?
   Not really. I think the absence of religion in our lives probably affects this. We do like traditions that involve food, though, like Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday) and Easter.
   
   
5. What is one tradition you have passed on to your children and/or plan to pass on to them?
   I have passed on the following to them:
   
   • It is OK to put shoyu (soy sauce) on anything.
     
   • Rather than have the argument over pumpkin pie v pecan pie for Thanksgiving dinner, it is best to make both. Also, it is OK to celebrate Thanksgiving at the weekend, since it is not a thing in the UK.
     
   • There is no such thing as “quickly” popping into the bookshop. Or the library.