Its been a very long time...lets catch up....

[CollinMacD]

Greetings all,

Its been some time since I posted a new thread. I just wanted to catch up and let you know what has been going on with my rapidly changing life. Since all my Scottish activities have been put on ice, since 2019, I am just getting my head above water to start up enjoying the friendships and activities of the Scottish Community once again. So lets start of from the last time I posted: we lived in Northern Virginia on or about 2019, I cannot remember if I posted when we moved.

On May 1, 2019 we bought a house and moved to Kissimmee, FL. We got a beautiful house in a 55 plus community. We sold our house in 2017, rented an apartment in Virginia, getting ready to retire. Bought the house, and now as of 2 January 2021, I have retired after a combine year of Federal service, 51 years, with US Coast Guard, CIA, and DHS (US Customs and Boarder Protection). So all of this during the past two years, moving, remodeling, still working, and of course the Covid-19 has caused me to focus on getting our lives in some semblance of order. It was a very chaotic, expensive, and rather exhausting two years, but we did it. So we are settled in Kissimmee, love the area, love the weather, and transferred from the Donald Clan of Virginia (Mid Atlantic) to Central Florida. The Florida Donald Clan are just fantastic, made us feel like we arrived home. We attended the Central Florida Scottish Games January 2020, just before Covid shut everything down, it was great, also attended last weekend the Northeast Scottish Games, one day but a great time we had with the Donald Clan.

To ALL MY VIRGINIA FRIENDS and Donald Clansman/women: I send my best and we miss you, but are having a great time as the weather and the state are great, we love it here.

I hope to resume now visiting more often and contributing and learning more from this site. To all my old friends so happy to be back....CHEERS

[Jock Scot]

Nice to see you back Collin.

[CollinMacD]

Nice to see you back Collin.

Thank you Jock. I often thought about much of what you posted and how much I learned from you. Visiting Scotland is still on my bucket list, and hope one day we can share a dram or two or whatever.... Have learned more about my ancestors, and am very proud to announce, we have no royalty, nor famous people. My family is from the Knoydart, and Moidart area, all were farmers, fisherman, and latter miners. Salt of the earth, remained Roman Catholic. My eight grandfather was an officer in Clanranald during the 1745-46 Uprising and survived Culloden, on the run, captured in 1780, imprisoned at Fort Williams, died while in prison 1786. His family involved in the clearances, left on or about late 1789 on the Brigantine "Nora", Family of Samuel MacDonald, and his sons Angus, Donald, and Allen, with daughter Katherine, disembarked at Cape Bretton, NS. I am descendent of Angus, who with Donald Chisholm got land grants and cleared the land to form the town of Marydale, near St Andrews, Antigonish, NS. My Grandfather, was first to leave the farms and migrated to the US in 1916, thus my father was born in Lynn, Ma and so was I. All of this was validated by the Antigonish Historical Society based on actual historical records, church records, and civil records. Also we are called the MacDonald (MacBrides) of Antigonish NS.

Just thought you would like to be caught up on my research.....MANY hours, and before I accepted this had to cross reference all and I did, all checks out....I hit the wall of my eighth Grandfather in Scotland..... One day I will get there and continue the research....

Thanks for being the first to post, means a lot to me....CHEERS.

[Jock Scot]

I say this with the greatest respect to you and your ancestors and it is very kind of you to invite me to have a look. But, no thank you. Why?

Well, once you have listened to a three hour tartan justification lecture often with pictures and documentation too, more than a few times and often with no way of tactfully escaping, given by an earnest and enthusiastic visitor from afar, then we avoid them like the plague! I hear you say,"surely people dont do that?" Oh yes they do! I am sorry but, your family is not mine, your direct roots are possibly/probably not mine, so with with all kindness and honesty, I really don't want to know.

Sorry.

[FossilHunter]

Glad to see you back and well, Collin.

Air Muir s'Air Tir

[CollinMacD]

I say this with the greatest respect to you and your ancestors and it very kind of you to invite me to have a look. But, no thank you. Why?

Well, once you have listened to a three hour tartan justification lecture often with pictures and documentation too, more than a few times and often with no way of tactfully escaping, given by an earnest and enthusiastic visitor from afar, then we avoid them like the plague! I hear you say,"surely people dont do that?" Oh yes they do! I am sorry but, your family is not mine, your direct roots are possibly/probably not mine, so with with all kindness and honesty, I really don't want to know.

Sorry.

Respect your wishes....Regards.

[CollinMacD]

Glad to see you back and well, Collin.

Air Muir s'Air Tir

Thank you sir....CHEERS.