Writing, Scrapbooking, Podcasting My Family History
The dictionary tells me I am a genealogist because I am person who traces or studies lines of family descent. But, like many others who have surrounded themselves with dates, names, records, photos and dog eared scraps of paper, we are so much more! When your are a family historian the emphasis is always on the word, "family". Medically we are connected by our DNA. But it is the life stories we uncover that makes a real family!
If I had to pick one thing from my memories of the 1950's it would have to be going to the cinema on a Saturday morning. Watching a movie was only a small part of the whole experience if you were in the ABC club! There were badges, prizes and freebies and of course there was "The ABC Minors Song" . You may find it hard to believe but 65 years later I can still remember the words!
I began my family tree with the clear aim of recording my place in time. I also wanted my children to know their place in a history that began 12,000 miles from where they were born. Unexpectedly, I seem to have lost my name! The name of my childhood; a name that identified me as the child of my parents; a name I shared with my sister.
After my first blog failed miserably I made the decision to find something else to write about. For some reason "Fermentation" was going to be it! SEO was perfect, monetization was practical and my chosen new theme was perfect, if a little expensive! There were two problems to this well researched choice. I don't like fermented food and I live on a boat where space is at a premium! So, here I am doing what I have been quietly doing most of my life, writing stories. Only this time the stories are not hidden away in boxes!
When I read the family histories of other researchers there is one thing I miss more than any other. Letters! A "Love Letter For Jimmy" was written for my brother by those who cared for him in his final days. It is the only letter from the past I have. I can not change the past but I can look to the future and leave my words. A eulogy for mother is a letter I wrote about the past. It is a letter I leave behind for the future.
I was warned by experienced family researchers that once I started my family tree I would become addicted! They were right. Writing stories, finding connections and stalking my family members (both near and far) for snippets of information have become all consuming. So much so that I have had to devise a way to chill out. Sitting back with my feet up, a cup of coffee close by and a TED Talk was my solution. The topic? What else, Family History!
At one level my ancestry search began with a birth certificate and 3 marriage certificates. Not surprisingly, the realisation that I was the only one in the "family" who held the stories of the past shocked me into realising that I was "it". If the stories from my mother in the London Blitz, my Grand father working in a steel mill and the family myth that was spoken of with a nod and a wink were to survive I would have to speak up!
Today is the first time I can remember writing the words, "My brother" I think he died when I was about two years old and he was five. I have no memories of my own about him but I do have four grainy photographs.
Warts And All 