I remember being asked in grade school what I was. I was puzzled by this and answered, "American." The teacher (in Chicago) then asked where my family came from, I paused and answered, "Virginia and Indiana." "No," she replied, "what foreign country did your family come from?"

I went home and asked my parents and found that my parents and grandparents couldn't tell me the specifics, but my mother did say that her Gordon ancestors came over in the 18th century and my father's mother said her McIver ancestors also came over in the 18th century. So as a kid I latched on to our Scots heritage.

I have since found that our first immigrant ancestor came from England to Virginia on the first boat in 1607 and that subsequent immigrant ancestors came from Wales, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany and Holland. So I'm a mutt, but I still relate strongly to my Scots heritage because of that early experience.