Families…let's talk about how important families are. Anybody who has a family should consider themselves lucky, and I am afraid that there are people out there who have families who do not consider themselves lucky. As many of you may know, I have always been interested in my family and its history. However, I also feel that everybody should be interested in their family and their family history because your family and your family history is who you are. I feel like everybody is mostly thinking about themselves, and we used to be more family-oriented.
One of the most family-oriented people are the Irish and the Scots. As many of you know, their families were called clans back before the Battle of Culloden, which was part of the Jacobite uprising in 1745 and ended the clan system in Scotland. When it was time for a Scot (Scottish person) to marry into another clan, they did it for several reasons, not just to marry or just for love but also for alliances. People are becoming more cynical. I think technology has a little to do with it, but the one silver lining about the COVID-19 lockdown is that if you were locked down with your family, you actually got to spend time with them and be reminded of family values. The Spanish, in general, are very family-oriented, and I didn’t know how oriented they were until I married Fabiola. I wish everybody were like this. So this year, I think we all need to spend a little more time with our families. No matter who we are or what our culture is, we need to stop and think about our family. Happy New Year!