What Is It That Will Get You To Write Your Stories

While I am working at the Family History Center, I frequently have people come in and ask what we do. The basic answer is to assist people in finding their ancestors. A frequent reply to that is "my Grandmother has already done our tree".  "Wellll", I say, "have you written your stories? Who can tell them like you do? Who knows them and will care to tell them if you don't."
From my own experience, my Hero wrote his "Personal History", but it was a factual history, i.e. I was born... He did not include any of his "stories" of what made him the person he was. His good fortune was I was a good listener and in my grief, I wrote the stories that made him come alive again to his children and will help his grandchildren to know him.
What help me to write his stories was I found a group called GeneaBloggers on the Web and their memes gave me the platform to write those stories. GeneaBloggers has transitioned into GeneaBloggers Tribe, but still has the prompts for those that have a hard time zeroing in on a topic or thought.
Another point is, if you procrastinate, you might lose the capacity to remember and or write those personal memories. Just saying...
I, personally, am going to pick up with my stories now and if it triggers one of the Hero's then I will write that too.  Please, if you have only been concentrating on other's stories or professional instruction, teaching, et cetera, pause occasionally and begin writing your own stories. This is a plea on your behalf and those that come later.
PS Did you ever think that your story that includes others, rarely is a story about only one person, could help another learn about their family member too.
'Til next month... keep writing.

Past Life Styles Before the Internet

Last month, I was in a slump and missed my post. I was moving back to the house my husband and I built when we were young. We had such high hopes for it and slowly began working towards those goals while having and raising 6 children.  As you can imagine, it was S L O W. We abandoned it to live in my mother’s home when

         1. She moved into an assisted living facility because of early onset of dementia and...
           2.   My sweetheart had stage 4 col-rectal cancer. 

It is a story and a half house, so my children were concerned about long range challenges for me and my knees. 

Oh well, who know what will happen in ten years. The biggest challenge has been overcoming the pain at seeing what he had worked so lovingly to make had fallen into disrepair. Some reading this know me on social media such as Facebook. I frequently talk about comments from the tree house. My son remarked that it was an apt description as it was a cross between the Swiss Family Robinson’s and the Bernstein Bear’s home. 

Now you can understand a little of the confusion and disorientation I have been experiencing in planning ahead. Well, that coupled with family calling and asking for assistance with their personal problems. What’s a mom to do, say no? I think not. That is what life and genealogy is all about.

An experience I have had as I have been moving back home, is unpacking my genealogy files. Many times, it makes me smile as I see, notes written on scrap pieces of paper, and no reference as to where I found it. 

Today, moving in the professional world of genealogy, I hear chastisement in my head for not having a research plan sheet, or writing down my documentation. I have empathy for those who find themselves with genealogy information and not a clue as to which book it was they found it in. Let me explain.

Going back to building a house and finishing it ourselves while raising 6 children, will help you understand a little bit. I worked as a public health nurse or school nurse while my children were growing up, and helped my husband with work projects he had as well. We are member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which as most know emphasize finding your family history. We were the only members on both sides of family, who were members. No one had a clue about their family’s history, it all fell in my lap to find it, along with all the above. To shorted this story, I will just say the way it happened was, aside from a few planned visits to major libraries, I would swing by the local library for a 30 minutes to grab some research time when I went grocery shopping or was running errands. My sweetheart would look at me when I got home (days before cell phones) and say “you sure took a long time, at the library again?”  And that is how notes were scratched on odd pieces of paper and now, random information found without documentation. It was almost a lifestyle. Grabbing moments to recreate life times, it is why I am going back and filling in the blanks now. Life before the internet was not easy, nor was it always organized. That is my personal family history finding story.

Has anyone else experience a lifestyle so random or am I the only one? 

A Family Story

So...This is what happens when you put all your eggs in one basket to create a blog post.  You start researching and one rabbit hole leads you down a path that you find yourself at the crossroads of the Cheshire Cat resting place. "Where do you want to go?" A thousand thoughts go through your mind and the next google search points you down another path.  Then the nurse comes in and distracts you from your direction by riling up your mother from her sleep and creating minutes of chaos.  Things quieten down and you try to collect your fractionated thoughts, but you are back a square one. The collected basket of information so far collected is examined and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that there isn't any cohesive points.  A big sigh is breathed, and the process begins again.
Finally 4 days later and many repetitious moments of the previous sentences, the Doctor releases your mother to return to her assisted living facility. All is well again. You figure, Yes! now I can concentrate.
You return home, open your computer to organize and write what you have.  Still, the information appears like a kaleidoscope of ideas.  The phone rings, and you hear..."GrandmomE, come down and play with me, please, Please, Please..." In the sweetest of of pleading voices. "Come play with me."

It is not hard to admit, one looks at the computer, then at the phone...and the sweet voice wins.
The story is not written, but the ground work is planned and the collection has begun. So, here is a preview and see if you can figure out what road we will be traveling next month.

 Normandy Invasion, June 1944

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Battle of the Bulge September 1944

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Right now an angel face is patiently waiting for grandmomE to put the computer down and snuggle her to sleep.

And that is how the plans of a genealogy blogger can be waylaid by present day family.  Do you identify?  See you next month with a well organized post. In the mean time snuggle and love your sweeties and make memories for them to write about.