Just Thinking...

[Wheeler]

What is Genealogy??? For those of us with children, and grandchildren, I believe there comes a day when we begin to want to pass on our stories, our roots. The tremendous responsibility we feel in raising a child, smoothing their paths, showing them the roads we feel are most "right" carries over into another way of giving as we age. Most of us wish to give them roots, to share with them the past we remember and make them feel a part of it. We want them to know those we loved before they came to us, those they never had the opportunity of knowing. And so we tell the stories, we bring out the bits and pieces of our family past to show, to talk about. Sometimes we are listened to, sometimes our words are politely brushed aside, and sometimes, sadly enough, we realize there is no one that actually wants to hear. But for most of us who have raised a child, the day comes when we try.

 

[Homesteader]

I know my son doesn't really want to hear any of my "stories". He's not rude about it but you can tell he's just not that interested. Maybe one of his daughters will like to pick old grannies brain when they grow up. I always used to listen to my grannie. Unfortunately, I seldom got to see her. But when I did I took notes! Those little scraps of paper are precious to me!

[Freetobeme]

A project I have in mind is to write down the stories my mom has. I am also going to contact her sister and see what kind of stories she can add. I will also add my own. I never had contact with any extended family due to many unpleasant issues my mom had when she was growing up. The one sister is the only family she stays in touch with and they haven't seen each other since long before I came along (yeah, back in the dark ages!) They do talk on the phone though. I am also going to put together a scrap book for each of my kids. I plan to scan in photos and documents and save it to CD. I will also put the originals in a book for each of them. I like the CD idea, because I can edit photos to make some of the faded ones look better and I can even add music if I want and special effects. Now all I have to do is find time.

[logcabinmama]

Thank you so much SCMary for this toppic.

 

 

[ToAutumn]

Thank you SCMary for this topic! I was lucky enough to still have "family reunions" until I was 15 when my great-grandmother died. I remember listening to stories told by cousins who were my mothers age and I still smile.

There was one all the "boys" agreed on about when the doctor came around and they knew they were to get dosed up with castor oil and get a shot, they would climb under the old house(it had big boulders for supports stacked about 3 feet off the ground) and hang onto the risers of the stairs so no one could find them. Grand ma would sit on the front pourch with the doctor and wait until their fingers would give out and them they STILL have to take the castor oil! On my family tree program there is a section for each person called biography, I have been thinking of putting stories like this to people who I remember telling me the story or the story about. It would be a good way to keep these stories alive for when/ if my children or grandchildren ever become interested in the history of our family. There are so many stories that will be lost with no one to tell them anymore. And even though times have changed and doctors don't make house calls anymore, much less in a horse and buggy, the stories can bring a little piece of history alive and more interesting.