Keepers of the Past

I stumbled into genealogy about a decade and a half ago. I think it is a past-time that appeals to science-minded people because of the order of things. Trees are linked, data accumulates and it all gets neatly sorted. Kind of satisfying really.

My grandmother was our family data keeper and unknowingly, I became her successor (although she kept track of birthday and anniversaries in her head and in her little book much better than I ever have. She always had a card on hand to mail off to family members far and wide). I've never really been good with snail mail.

But I do have a pretty awesome tree online. And with today's technology, you can substantiate facts with birth records, news articles, obituaries and attach them to the people in your tree. It is really amazing when you consider what genealogists went through a couple of decades ago. Digital archives are fantastic.

Family trees only go so far though. A name, a date, a place - it does tell you something about where your "people" came from but what makes a tree rich is the photos and the stories. Memories of days past and context of the times when they lived.

My goal with this blog is to capture the stories of a few of the people in my tree - mainly to share with family. And sharing my trees have been my objective all along because it is family that makes the tree.

I have found a number of stories as I have stumbled through my family history research. Some of them are amazing. I think it is good to document and it is nice to show that the people in my tree are more than just a name.