Roots, Rituals, and What Makes Us Us: Celebrating Diversity Month at Offleash

We tell stories for a living. So this April, for Celebrate Diversity Month, we asked our team to tell us theirs — the real ones. Where they’re from. What they still do every year without really being able to explain why. The thing their kids or parents handed them that they didn’t realize was a gift until later.

Here’s what came back.

Where We Come From

Most of us think we know our origin story. Some of us were wrong.

Nina Beck grew up identifying as Norwegian. Then came the DNA test. Turns out she’s about as Spanish as she is Nordic — roughly 19% Andalusian — with roots in the Afro-Puerto Rican diaspora she had no idea about. “It’s made me think about identity less as something fixed and more as something you uncover over time.” The detail that floors her: she spent six weeks living in Granada during college, completely unaware of any ancestral connection. “Looking back, it feels a little surreal, like I was drawn there before I even knew why.”

Stephanie Schlegel grew up with two languages under one roof — her parents immigrated to the US from Poland and Czech Republic, met in San Francisco, and each spoke their own. The result is a voice that belongs entirely to her. “When I speak either language, it’s a hodgepodge of both, and I also have a slightly off pronunciation of certain words — which used to be a little embarrassing, but I now consider it something unique to me and my experience as a first-generation American.”

I’m 50% Scottish, 50% Irish, 100% still figuring out what that means to live out stateside. First generation. Family roots in Portsalon, Donegal, and the city of Dundee — which, for the record, is known for jute, jam, and journalism. A very specific kind of pride comes with that.

How We Keep It Alive

The short answer: food. Mostly food.

Erica Anderson: “I am predominantly Italian on my mom’s side. You can thank her for my sometimes fiery personality.” Christmas Eve is the main event. “The vibe was ‘the more the merrier’ when it came to both people and food — which is quintessential Italian.” Stephanie’s whole family still gathers every Christmas Eve for a traditional Polish celebration — fish, sauerkraut, one present per kid. She’s made sure her kids are on board: “One of them is now addicted to pickle soup.”

Ira Kantor keeps his Russian and Polish Jewish heritage alive through music — an annual rotation of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Stravinsky — and through the High Holidays. “One tradition I follow every year religiously — no pun intended — is fasting for Yom Kippur. In tandem, I always watch the Neil Diamond version of The Jazz Singer and make sure to text my mother and best friend a clip of Neil singing ‘Kol Nidre.'”

I mark Boxing Day every year with British imports, beans on toast, and a full Mr. Bean marathon. “There’s a solid chance I have ceilidh music or bagpipes playing in the background. It’s also my stress music. Don’t judge.”

The Ones We Inherited

Some traditions get handed down so quietly you don’t recognize them as traditions until you catch yourself passing them on.

Scott Lechner — Mexican, Austrian, and Scottish — grew up in a house where Christmas was a month-long event. “My parents did a really good job of making that entire month very special.” He’s rebuilt it for his own kids, who still show up expecting all of it as adults. “I have a feeling they will continue the tradition with their own families down the road.”

Christine Penwell’s most treasured inheritance comes with a mystery still unsolved. Her Irish grandmother made “turtle” cookies in the waffle iron every Christmas — chocolate, nuts, and caramel — and kept the exact recipe entirely in her head. “Now that she’s passed, my dad and I cherish her half-finished recipe card. Each year we try to recreate the treat and are slowly but surely working our way through specific ingredients to master the flavor. We’ll get there one day, and I know Grandma would be proud.”

Growing up in Dundee, Burns Night meant a family poem recitation contest. I won for my delivery of “Address to a Haggis.” I am not sorry.

The Ones That Are Just Ours

And then there are the ones with no origin story. No country to trace them to. Just your family, your weirdness, yours.

Christine’s family builds fairy gardens wherever they go — on hikes, at parks, on vacation, using sticks and flowers and whatever’s nearby. “We’ve yet to see a fairy in real life, but we know they appreciate it just the same.”

Scott’s Easter tradition began with a single questionable call. One year, a son asked if he could hit a hard-boiled egg with a wiffle ball bat after the hunt. Scott said sure, pitched one, and the egg exploded directly into young Trace’s face. “It was so darn funny — harmless egg to the face — so we all laughed like crazy. Well, Trace didn’t.” He does now. It’s been non-negotiable ever since.

Ira, every Yom Kippur, texts his mom and best friend a Neil Diamond clip at the end of a 24-hour fast. At this point it’s not even a tradition. It’s just who he is.

We are a team of first-generation Americans, DNA-test surprises, competitive haggis reciters, and devoted Neil Diamond fans. We come from Scotland and Poland and Italy and places we’re still learning about.

The best stories are always the specific ones. The ones that belong only to you.

Happy Celebrate Diversity Month from all of us at Offleash.