Having a last name as common as "Davis", I often am asked about my family's heritage. The name "Davis" could refer to a number of different nationalities. In my particular case, Davis refers to an English background. The Davis family came to America from England in the mid 1800's. Not having an abundance of money, the Davis family made a living by selling produce at a stand on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. It was not until the past 50 years that the Davis' began to drift away from the greater Salisbury area. My grandfather, Chester, his wife, Elizabeth Rounds and their youngest son, James, my father, moved to Hockessin, DE when my father was in college. Chester remained in Hockesssin until Elizabeth died in 1974 at which time he moved to Bridgeville, DE. After graduating from University of Maryland, my father moved to Newark where he later met my mother, Gwendolyn Waddell Davis. They have resided in Newark ever since. Other members of the family live in Salisbury, MD, Cottonwood, AZ, and various areas in Virginia.

The nationality of the Waddell/Gaveletz family has a wider variety of backgrounds. Unfortunately, I do not know much about the Waddell family being that my grandfather and most of his siblings passed away when I was very young. I do, however, know that the Waddell's came from Wales and settled in South Carolina. My grandfather, Charles Waddell, married Helen Gavaletz in 1946. The Gavaletz family came to America from Austria when my great grandfather was a boy, which was in the late 1800's. The Gavaletz's came to live in New Jersey, where they owned a famiy meat shop. While many of the Gavaletz's are still in New Jersey, they can be found in South Carolina, Maryland, Florida, and even Austrailia. My mother's brother is an Anthropology professor at the University of Western Australia.

Our family is very proud of our Austrian heritage. This is most evident at holidays - especially Easter. Our Easter dinner consists of many traditional Austrian foods such as kilbossa, cabbage rolls, peroggies, breads, and homemade butter. Of course, we also continue the tradition of decorating eggs with melted wax before they are colored. All of our Easter food is wrapped in a cloth, embroidered by my great, great grandmother, and taken to Church to be blessed before we feast. I hope these traditions will be carried on forever. I have never been out of the country, so I have never seen the places where my ancestors derrived from. It is my dream to someday travel to Austria to see the beautiful country my great grandparents came from. Maybe someday, I will get my chance.