Beginning My Ancestral Journey

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Twenty-six years ago, I began my journey into genealogy. My mom had been interested for a number of years and I had an aunt who had been looking into one side for a while. My daughters were just 2 and 3 at the time. Mom and I had been talking about family stories and we just decided one day to jump into the “gene” pool and see where it took us.

We started in the most obvious place… Write down what we “know” and then… “Let’s talk to our older family members…….”

We searched for forms that we could write down information and started on our search.

After we had compiled all the basic names, dates and places to fill in our Family Group Sheets and Pedigree Charts, we were off and running. Our quest took us to libraries and cemeteries and health departments, archives and courthouses. We searched books and scoured records and mailed queries to magazines and mailing lists of genealogy researchers. We tried many different ways of sorting and organizing our information and recording our hard work and made many mistakes and changes along the way.

During this time we discovered MANY ancestors and relatives and made MANY more wonderful memories of our exploits and accomplishments.

My daughters, even at so young an age, went along on most trips, regardless of the destination. At libraries, we brought along quiet toys and books, like Legos and Barbie dolls, and we would set up hidden play areas under our work tables for them to stretch out. Naps were part of that for the first few years also. Then we would pack up our bags full of all the things they brought along and all the copies we made of our own discoveries.

I think their favorite trips were to the cemeteries where they would help us look for the stones we needed. It became a real challenge and competition to see who would find them first. Many times we packed a lunch and ate in our car or at a park where they could play for awhile on the swings or play equipment that was there. We tried to make them fun while we were searching for what we needed.

These early years paved the way for a passion in family detective work and at the same time cemented some wonderful memories of time spent together. It gave us all an appreciation for our past and a better understanding of where we came from.

Everyone has their own challenges and situations that we work around and work with to accomplish what’s important to us. If tracing your family history has seemed interesting to you, don’t lose time because things seem difficult or impossible at the moment. Make time to begin YOUR journey even if it’s simply to talk to family members. That’s the most important step you can take and it’s sometimes the easiest. Our older family members won’t be around forever. By the time I started, one of my grandmothers had been diagnosed with alzheimer’s disease and I had lost a valuable chance to experience her memories with her.

Don’t put it off until tomorrow. Begin YOUR journey today. Take your first steps and see where it takes you.

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