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While listening to the eulogy delivered at the celebration of my Grandmother’s long life, my mind wandered to my childhood and her stories about family history. I wondered if Grandma’s vivid imagination made our ancestors seem more exciting than they were.

Grandma’s stories were the only family history I knew. My mother was left a widow when I was very small and she died when I was a teenager. Now that I had grown children, I realized how much I could have learnt from relatives.

As my Gran’s funeral service closed, I determined to use this family gathering to begin my maternal family history research. Not having read anything about researching family history I was unaware how many fruitless, meaningless time consuming journeys I would take, resulting in the accumulation of masses of irrelevant information.

 A family friend who lived next door for more than 50 years attended the celebration of my grandmother’s life. His family had grown up with our family and he was still in robust good health for a 95 year old. The two families enjoyed meals together, playing cards and chatting. Family milestones were celebrated. Both families had in depth knowledge of one another so building a family tree could begin there.

To start building up a list of family history resources, I talked with many people. It was relatively easy to gather anecdotal information as we had lived in the district for four generations. The records of births, deaths and marriages seemed a great starting point for documentation.

 I needed an organized system to create my family tree. Oral histories, written records, photographs, documents and artifacts provided an image of my ancestors’ lifestyle. I got copies of birth, death and marriage records.

My story is probably the same as thousands of people throughout the world. Tracing one’s family tree is not just a wonderful hobby; it is a life-affirming pursuit. What I have learned about my family has built in me a strong sense of pride and place. My life is infinitely richer for searching and knowing my ancestor’s stories.

  Warm regards

Columbia Lee

For the Team

www.mightydigitaldownloads.com

Columbia Lee is fascinated by genealogy.  Ever wondered about your ancestors? Did Aunt Maud die wealthy – without a will? Explore your family history and create your family tree – learn now! The Genealogy Guide is a complete course in tracing family histories.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 24th, 2008 at 4:30 pm and is filed under Raising Families. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.