Who Was Before Me?

For the past several years, I have been very interested in genealogy.  I know that there are many people that aren’t as interested in finding out about family members from times past.  My husband is one of those.  He just smiles that little smile when I start telling him my latest finds from ancestors that I never met.  Thankfully, he is patient with me and endures my stories and even goes with me on hunts to far away places to track down the mystery of my interesting family.

I came to this conclusion in our differences in delving into the history of family.  My husband had the blessing of a family that pretty much lived in the same place his entire childhood.  His grandparents were across town and when I met them, they had pictures from relatives from long ago.

Me, I have an interesting childhood.  I lived in so many places as a child that it covers an entire sheet of paper.  I have a handful of pictures.  Nothing much of me as a child or my brothers.  My family did not own a camera.  Any pictures that we would have would be from a studio (which was very rare) or if someone took the picture and gave us a copy.  I don’t have any pictures of my mom as a young mother holding me or anything that resembles daily life.  Recently, someone gave me a picture that shows me as a baby with my mom and dad.  It is like gold to me!  I stared and studied that picture for a long time.

This week my husband and I went to Southwest Texas to visit three towns that I lived in and I took pictures of the houses that I remember living in and we even walked in a cemetery looking for my great grandmother.  I didn’t find her grave, but, I will eventually.

I’m working backwards in my family tree.  I’m starting with my dad as his family has some interesting stories and I have a sweet Aunt and Uncle that can help me with all the missing links.

That leads me to the reason for this post.  I will be making a regular post of my findings.  I hope it will entertain you with some of the crazy stories that I have stored away.  I’m telling you, my childhood wasn’t your average childhood.  But, it molded me into who I am today.  The quirks, the worries, the fears that I have, I can usually trace back to things I’ve been through.  Oh, and even my strengths!

I hope that my writings on my family tree don’t just entertain you, I hope they inspire you to keep up with your legacy that you are leaving your family.

Do you have all of your pictures organized in photo albums?

Do you have important papers and records filed in a place for your children to find?

Have you recorded your family tree?

Have you recorded family stories that need to be remembered and passed on?

What about your family movies.  Are they on a medium that can be viewed?  Are they organized?

I am in the process of taking care of all the questions I just listed.

Maybe you want to join with me and begin the journey into your family history.  If you are wanting to start a search on your family history, I will be sharing how I’m finding out details on my ancestors.

Have you ever watched the television program “Who Do You Think You Are?”  I LOVE watching that show.  I set my recorder and I’m always excited to see what transpires from someones family tree.  Of course, they only have television celebrities that they use as their guests.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have someone  sit you down and read all the details of your ancestors and then send you on a journey across the world to walk in the same footsteps as your great-great-great-great grandmother?  Instead, I’m walking through a dusty old cemetery looking for names on tombstones that are so old, I can’t even read them.  But, it’s an adventure, right?

I did join Ancestry.com and have found some amazing things.  I almost squeal when I find a name or a document of someone that is my family.

Since I’m working backwards, I will begin with my dad.  I’ll write about him tomorrow.  I always want to learn from the good, the bad and the ugly.  It’s who we are and it’s all we have, so why not learn and grow into a better person than what was handed to us?

I want to be better, not bitter.  I loved my father greatly and have shed many tears over him because of the the path that he chose for his life.  He was a good man and a very handsome man, but, he had some struggles that took over and affected my family and my life tremendously.  I wish it would have been different, but, it wasn’t.  So, in sharing a tiny bit of his life, I would hope it would help someone even in a small way.  Sorry, this isn’t about airing dirty laundry as they say, but, just little tidbits in my findings that are interesting to me and are enlightening to why things were they way they were.

See you tomorrow and thanks for following me on my blog.  I have a wide array of interest, everything from fashion, living for Christ, family, crafting and so much more and now……genealogy.  I’m all over the place, aren’t I?  Maybe I should say, well-rounded?

“For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
  I know that full well.”   Psalm 139:13-14

How thankful I am to know that I was designed and created by an amazing living God!  I don’t take that for granted!