Searching for Scotland

Braveheart was released in 1995, around the same time my mother became obsessed with our family’s genealogy. Mel Gibson’s film featured a romanticized version of William Wallace’s story, coupled with an engaging soundtrack of original music by James Horner. Though grossly historically inaccurate, the movie and my family’s Scottish origins instilled in me a desire to go to Scotland.

Twenty-three years later I found myself traveling to Inverness with my husband and my daughter. My father-in-law, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law met us there. We saw (and touched) Loch Ness; we visited the Highlands. We stood on Hadrian’s Wall (illegally). We saw the oldest of the Crown Jewels in Edinburgh Castle. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.