american gypsy

American Gypsy Lately, my "cardio" session distractions have included TLC and My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding.  Okay, at first it was like watching a train wreck (meeting your future spouse at a party designed for such a purpose) You don't want others seeing you gawk at the mess (getting married at 16 as a norm) but it is just too much devastation to look away from (girls and boys with very different rules). Then I moved onto aghast (throwing a wedding together in a week). After that it became judgment (as of that isn't obvious by now) and from there mental mocking (wedding dressing with more bling than a corner jewley store) with disbelief scattered throughout. And then it hit me today like a wet towel in the face[SNAP!]: these people are just like me! And what's more, I admire them. Let me explain. The scene was of three teen girls at the mall, looking very teen girlish indeed. Enter two teen Romanichal gypsy boys who the girls know they are not allowed to even speak to. (In fact, there were three females because one was serving as an escort as Romanichal gypsy girls are not allowed out without one.) And they obeyed their rules! These kids were living in "the world" but not being "of the world" (as they define it). I had a hearty internal laugh at myself.  In the LDS religion we have a saying about living in the world but not becoming part of the world. So we go to,work and school,and parties, yada yada... But we do,not get caught up in worldly things or ambitions. We keep our eye on the eternal prize so to speak. Well, this is the task anyway. I suddenly found myself very impressed with these teens. They are able to go to high school, dress like their peers, be all teenager goofy but still maintain their cultural practices and standards! Yeah, I am impressed for sure.   And to top it all off, they are a minority group and experience all the persecutions and ostrasizarion that comes with the territory. Again, I could relate. And these teens, this whole group of people in fact, gained my respect. It is not easy to live in a world that does not accept your world. A world that treats you as a freak and looks down upon some of your most basis practices as wrong. That takes a strong soul. And it helps to have a strong family. In fact, I found myself wanting desperately to know what the parents are doing that produce children willing to be like and obey the previous generation! I mean, maybe it's just me, but I want my kids to take on my beliefs and values. If I didnt believe  and value them, I would have passed them up long ago. These things mean so much to me and I want them to mean something to my off spring. So these gypsy moms and dads... They have something figured out.