My Heritage Part 2

Okay so now everyone knows I am Hispanic: Puerto Rican to be exact. The large part of my heritage is German ancestry. I am half German, I've never really looked into this side of my heritage b/c I don't feel the pull towards it like I do with my Puerto Rican heritage. I chose to learn Spanish in an effort to get closer to my roots. Another reason I didn't chose German: it doesn't sound as romantic as Spanish does. Some people may beg to differ but that was my reason, German has harsh sounds and is more guttural. Spanish flows and is kinda musical. Both of my parents have German heritage; Mom's mom was German (not sure on the percentage but she had a very German last name) and my grandma (dad's mom) was of German descent. Not sure about Grandpa- I think he was of German descent. Abuelo Milton (mom's dad) is my Puerto Rican connection. I know my dad's side of the family has been in the United States since before the 1900's as my grandmother was born in 1911 and always talked about her dad in his odd jobs, she never talked about him talking about where he was from. My great-grandfather had a lot of odd jobs; he sold fruit, he sold ice, he even sold cars and some of his customers paid in diamonds! Some of the diamonds went into my grandmother's wedding ring. When I was a teenager, my grandmother decided to break up the diamonds in the wedding ring and give each of her grandchildren one. My brother and I received diamonds which were turned into necklaces. My three cousins; Heather, Holly, and Heidi received diamond earrings. For the moment my mother has my brother's diamond. I wear the necklace on special occasions, its very special. Another item that I have of my grandmothers that I absolutely love is her opal ring. It is a small blue opal in a classic high set ring. This ring is more precious to me than I could describe. A friend found this ring while we were moving grandma out of her assisted living home. She found this opal mixed in with all of grandma's costume jewelery. Unlike the other jewelery or items my grandmother gave me, we don't know the back story on it. She didn't even know that we found it and that I started wearing it. Note, I did not steal this from her, her memory was fading due to dementia and Alzheimer's. Her short term memory was gone, so even if we told her she wouldn't remember. I know she would want me to have it, grandma was a very kind, loving person and wanted to make me and my family happy. She liked giving us little gifts. One time she gave me a ring that her father gave her upon her graduation from 8th grade, the completion of her education). The ring is a black rectangle (not sure of the stone), with a tiny diamond (I think) in the center. I felt really special when she gave it to me, and loved hearing her tell me the story behind it. I loved all of my grandma's stories; she told us all about growing up, stories about my dad when he was a kid. She had an exceptional memory, even when she got Alzheimer's, her long term memory was as good as it was a few years before the disease set in.
I am a mix of nationalities; German, Puerto Rican, English, and French. Those four we are certain of. We know of the English blood because we found a Noel family crest when we visited England. French because our last name is Christmas in French. Other than that I don't know. Maybe one day I will really delve deep into my heritage and get more details, when I have the time and the money. For now, I think I will settle for hearing stories about my family; both sides; the German and the Puerto Rican side.