Both immediate and extended family have played a major role in my life and in my development throughout my entire life. Whether they consciously perceive my efforts or not, more important for me is my desire in some way always to maintain and when possible to strengthen the connection to all of the members of my large family. When I say family, I most often refer to: 2 parents, 2 step-parents, 1 sister, 1 step-brother, 4 grandparents (2 are still living), 7 uncles, 6-8 aunts (depending on divorce statistics), and 16 cousins. Therefore, I have an intimate relationship of various degrees with over 40 people, with whom I share my life. Of course, if you begin to count boyfriends, girlfriends, second-cousins, friends etc. of my family members, the number becomes quite unimaginable.

This page should simply serve as a brief introduction to my family and their recent history. A full account of every person, every story and every shared memory would result in an encyclopedia collection. Therefore, rather than thousands of pages, I hope that this one page is concise, but interesting enough to provide you wish a informative insight into my family.

We don't really know how long ago, but I intend someday soon to find out, our ancestors originated from Scotland. I imagine that they first immigrated to Canada around 200 years ago and settled in the eastern province of Nova Scotia, which actually means New Scotland. Over the years the family grew or spread across Canada until the time of our known history. My grandfather was raised in Saskatchewan on his grandparent's farm until his involvement in WWII as a pilot brought him to the city of Trenton in Ontario, Canada. Now married to Katherine MacKenzie (MacEachern) the young family grew with the additions of Robert, William, Donald, Christopher, and Frederick (my father).

In the mid 1950's the family moved to Windsor, Ontario. This is located in the southern-most region of Canada, next to Detroit in the USA and is the self-proclaimed automotive capital of Canada. Robert (Bob), William (Tim) and Donald (Don) moved to various other cities in Ontario, while Christopher (Chris) and my father Fred, remained near Windsor. My father married Beverly MacKenzie (Beaudoin) in 1974. I came into the world in 1977 and my sister, Victoria (Vicki) soon followed in 1979.

Today, my grandfathers is longer living (only fondly in memory) after his death in 1999. My father now lives near Toronto with his new wife and my step mother, Eileen MacKenzie (Kerr), and her son (my step brother), Andrew Moore, has recently moved to Waterloo, Ontario for his university education. My sister Vicki, who still lives near Windsor, will be married to Phil McKinnon as of April 29th, 2006. My mother, who still lives near Windsor, is remarried to Jack Colemen, who has two children living in the USA.

Originally of Scottish origin, the name MacKenzie, or MacCoinnich, as it appears in Gaelic, is generally taken to mean "son of Kenneth", and the original Kenneth, who lived in the thirteenth century, is said to have descended from a younger son of Gilleoin of the Aird. The MacKenzies were, without doubt, of Celtic stock and were not among the clans that originated from Norman ancestors. Other variations of the spelling give clues to the origins or history of clan members (e.g. McKenzie would typically be of Irish origin, while "Mac" is an indication of Scottish origin).

Our Crest shows 5 peaks of mountains inflamed with the motto:"LUCEO NON URO" (I Shine, Not Burn). The flaming mountains are perhaps connected with the practice of setting fires on high hills as signals or beacons.

A second crest usually associated with the clan is that of the MacKenzie of Seaforth. It shows a Stag's antlers with the motto: "CUIDICH' N' RIGH" (Save the King).

Our Sloidhgharim or war shout makes reference to a high hill, or as loosely translated "Mountain in Kintail": "TULACH ARD!"

MacKenzie Internet Resources:

• http://www.clan-mackenzie.org.uk - Official clan page in Scotland
• http://www.clanmackenzie.com/ - Official clan page of North American MacKenzies

If the MacKenzie family embodies "old tradition", the Beaudoin family then embodies "community". My earliest memories are of my family, who were also my closest neighbours. As each child of my grandparents married, they received a plot of land on the family farm, on which to build a house. I was very young, but I remember in my own childish ways helping my father and my uncles to build each other's houses.

Both of my grandparents have old french Canadian roots, but nobody knows how old. My grandfather, whom we call "pop", is Neil Beaudoin (1928-2006). He had been involved in farming all of this life and soon after marrying Rita Beaudoin (Beneteau), they purchased a farm down far down the same country from their first house. Beginning in the early fifties Beverly, Doug, Brian and Charles were raised on this farm.

I have the honour of being the eldest of 10 grandchildren, all of whom grew up on the farm with me, until the separation and later divorce of my parents in 1991. Oddly enough, my father remained in the house of the farm and my mother moved away, but if you would understand my family's capacity for love, friendship, understanding & compassion, this would not at all seem odd. After 1991 both my sister (Vicki) and I lived with my mother and grew up near Windsor. My father maintained the house as his residence until 1997, when he finally moved to the Toronto area.

Beginning with the eldest sons of my grandparents: My uncle Doug and aunt Doreen are parents of Sarah, Steven and Lyndsey. My uncle Brian and aunt Laura are parents of Kimberly, Kelly and Michael. My uncle Charles and aunt Shelly are parents of Jessica and Andrew. Both of my grandparents are now retired, but live a very active and busy life. Although the farm is still owned by the family, the land is rented out to other farmers, who work the land. Otherwise, "The Farm" shows no signs of slowing down and family events and holiday gatherings are still the highlights, when more than 20 very close family members, who actually see each other every day, come together to celebrate their love and happiness with each other.

Below is an illustration of the farm, but is not to scale. Surrounding the farm is quite simply more farmland and other neighbours and distant relatives. Even the more than 6000 km physical separation from the farm and my family hasn't weakened my connection to them and perhaps in some special ways has even enabled us to grow even closer. I certainly like sharing my experiences around the world with my family on the farm, but believe it or not, I like it just as much to share my experience on the farm with the world.