Family History

When I was in high school I became very interested in my family. My mother and father both loved their families very much and talked about their ancestors often. It was only natural that I would want to know more about these people I had heard so much about as a child. Our ancestors have a lot to do with the people we are today.

If you have ever had an interest in your ancestors and set out to find out who they were, then you understand just how addicting it can be. Genealogy (the search for one's roots) is a wonderful hobby but can become all consuming. When my children were younger, I would drag them to old courthouses, family reunions and cemeteries. I can remember my son sitting in the back seat of the car when we'd pass a cemetery he'd say: "Don't stop mom - we don't have time".

I have a database containing more that 10,000 people with the same surnames as my family and more notes on those people than I will ever be able to post to their information. I learned early on that you have to gather any and all information on people with the same surname because somewhere in the branches of your family tree, they are going to join into the same tree trunk as your family - otherwise known as "branch kin".

Genealogy is also a wonderful way to learn history - not only of your family but of our great nation. I never really liked history much and could have cared less about it until I started digging for my roots. I've learned about the civil war and many of it's battles, migration patterns of our ancestors, the Revolutionary War, the World Wars and many other momentous occasions in the forming of our country.

I never knew any of my grandparents because they had all passed away before I was born, but I felt as if I had known them since they were so loved and talked about by my parents. I longed for the knowledge of who they were, what their lives were like and where they came from and was pleasantly surprised at the things I found.

Genealogy is an ongoing process and after four decades of searching, I still find out things about my ancestors that never cease to amaze me. And yes there are many "skeletons in my closet", but that's part of the fun of genealogy - finding out that there were some black sheep in the flock right along with all the pretty white ones.

In all my countless hours of searching, I learned a lot about who I was, who I wanted to become and who I wanted my children to become. I know that because of the wonderful God-fearing ancestors that I have that I am a better person. I continue to grow and learn, and I know that I have a lot of relatives long gone standing behind me cheering me on.......