My great great great great grandmother Margret Kenney was born in Castlerea, Roscommon, Ireland. When my ancestors decided to come to American they brought a lot of things with them. One of the things that survived over the years is our genetic predisposition to having red hair and freckles. Like most Americans I am an extreme mix of a lot of different things. German, Swedish, Norwegian, Austrian, English, and Irish just to name a few. However, as a result of my freckled complexion and my strawberry blonde hair I have always felt drawn to the Irish side of my varied heritage.
Looking different is not always a good thing as a kid. Some kids would say it looked like there was dirt on me. Some kids would ask if they could play connect the dots with my freckles while holding a marker. Some kids would ask me why I had spots on me like a dog. As an adult I totally understand that some of these questions were completely innocent. Curious kids were asking me these questions to try and figure out why my skin was different than theirs. However, some of the teasing was malicious and mean spirited as I progressed to middle school and high school. The harsh attitude from some of my peers during my teen years caused me to question my appearance. I remember seeing an article in Cosmopolitan that said "Get rid of your freckles with this quick makeup trick." I was so excited to be rid of these small specks that had plagued my adolescents. Like most teenagers I just wanted to look like everyone else and be what I thought was "normal." According to the periodical you had to use two types of foundation and a whole tube of cover up. I put all the gunk on my face and instantly hated it. You could no longer see my freckles but I finally realized that was not what I wanted. The experience made me realize that I actually LOVED my freckles even if others teased me about them.
Embracing my Irish side more than ever I started celebrating my freckles and red hair. Especially on St. Patrick's Day but also the rest of the year too. We live right outside of Indianapolis, IN and every year they host an event called "Indy Irish Fest." I have been attending the event since before I met my husband. I love everything about it, including the Irish step dancing, the bagpipes, the hurling, the Irish dog show, and especially the Irish music. Irish Fest was the one place that I was able to see so many people who looked like me. I no longer stood out with my freckles and red hair because at Irish Fest there was literally a sea of redheads with freckles.
My husband has a red beard so I suspected there was a definite possibility of producing some redheaded children. My first little lass come out with white blonde hair but as she got older she developed the cutest little freckles on the bridge of her nose. My second little lass came out with fire red hair and a fire personality to match. The last little lass has strawberry blonde hair. My 5 year old redhead has already received some of the same questions that I got as a kid. Sometimes she is asked if her freckles wipe off on the playground. We always try to tell her how beautiful and unique her freckles are. I am sure that she is going to go through some of the same kinds of things I did as a kid. Recently my husband saw a billboard that was an advertising a laser treatment to get rid of your freckles from a dermatologist. My Grandpa Stewart always used to say "A face without freckles is like a night sky without stars." I hope by teaching about our Irish heritage all of my lassies can learn to love their freckles like I did. Unfortunately the knife cuts both ways. My blonde 8 year old always feels left out because strangers always comment on the uniqueness of my two red heads. As a mom I always try to celebrate their rare features that make them all extra beautiful.
I think humans are always struggling to find the beauty in our differences. Especially for women and especially if we are the ones who are different looking. If everything in life was exactly the same then life itself would be so much easier. No one would ever have to learn to understand another person's perspective or feeling. However, if everything in life was exactly the same then life would be so much more boring. I will always try to love and celebrate the differences in my little lassies and try to teach them to celebrate the difference in others. Maybe if we all learn to honor all of our differences we could live in a much more interesting and beautiful world.
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