MacCain!

I have a startling confession to make. I am not technically an Ingham. Now, that isn't to say my real surname isn't Ingham, but genetically my lineage does not appear to extend back to anyone of that name.

My grandfather took his stepfather's last name, which was obviously Ingham. However, my great-grandfather by blood was Raymond W. MacCain. Now, I haven't been able to find out much about the MacCain line. Other than a few names and places, all that I really know is that my great-grandmother Effie divorced Raymond sometime in the early 1920's, for what reasons I can only imagine.

Both my father and grandfather were alcoholics, and my grandfather was very much a womanizer in his youth. I must wonder if Raymond W. MacCain, Sr. was much different than Ray Junior. If so, I must consider that MacCain men may have a predisposition toward being drunken whore-chasers. If there is a genetic link to such behavior, my own blood has been sufficiently thinned to avoid such predilections (or maybe I'm just a rebel at heart). I currently don't have enough background on the MacCains to tell.

I've written to a few MacCain cousins that I've been able to identify through my research, though none have gotten back to me. Obviously, 2nd and 3rd cousins aren't much to speak of, and I can understand their desire to remove themselves from the extended family line. There's no telling what kind of weirdoes your relatives might be. Why, they might even turn out to be me!

Despite being a MacCain by blood, I still consider myself to be an Ingham. My great grandfather was very much a true relative, if not by blood, then by spirit. I only had the chance to meet Great-Grandpa Ned once, when I was 5 years old, but what I remember of the man is someone who was every bit family as any genetic progenitor.

Who knows, maybe I'll find an Ingham somewhere in my bloodline. There are still many branches that remain unmapped.