Gypsy Beads: A Cure For The Homesick

My dad has always called himself a Tumbleweed.

I've called myself a Gypsy since the moment I discovered that many of the French who came to the U.S. the time my ancestors did were evicted from their homeland in the same fashion, and for the same reasons, the initial Roma (Gypsy) folk were. Many groups banded together very much in the same way, some intermarrying with Roma, even.

The shrinks call it 'The Geographical Cure'- in English, running from your problems.

All I've really known is that I really, really suck at being in the same place for very long.

I'm a mutt- I can't clearly define or point to specific ancestry, I can't say that so-and-so was this person or that. Most of what I know of my bloodlines is from word of mouth, and from what my paternal Great Uncle told me. My mother's bloodlines are even fuzzier.

However, every time I've really needed strength, it's come from one of two places, often overlapping in my view of them- my roots or my faith.
My discovery of the Baha'i faith was the beginning of a huge transformation for me. It is very much what I believe. Many of it's teachings are, to the letter, what I've always known in my heart. It has brought faith back into my life. However, each of us must follow our own path, must learn our own lessons our own way. Each of us must learn how to pray our own prayer. The footprints of a Gypsy are my own. It is where I find strength inside myself, and where I find my pride.

I found some writing on the Gypsies, and they struck me enough to quote them. These quotes- and I'm still reading- explain a lot about why i feel the way I do about this lifestyle.

Both are by Jean-Pierre Liegeois, in a publication called: "Roma, Gypsies, Travellers"

"An intelligent man will be discreet, will not put himself above others, will show respect for others, and will do well economically; he will be esteemed because he has merited the consideration of others by being intelligent, respectful, and with a big family which also merits consideration. These are the essential values."

"For those who are, by choice or force of circumstance, sedentary for long periods of the year, taking to the road, even briefly in the summer, brings back an awareness of family unity in conrast to an environment that changes with the miles, to experience first-hand what the old people talk about, to reinforce group solidarity, and so on."