Research on Our Family History! (Thank You, Marilyn!)
First off, many THANKS to my sister Marilyn for setting me the task today of beginning to research our family history. And thanks, too, to my sister Sue for her help today.
To be clear, at one point the family had joined together to gather the information to create a family tree. I know Mom was very involved with it, but from the notes I've discovered, it was very much a joint effort. I can't even guess who all helped with it.
But I admire that my Grandma Elsie kept some very good notes on the Anderson family (my Grandpa Harry's family). These are Mom's parents, for the record. And Grandpa Harry's brother Oscar became a Mormon, changing his name to George Naseath. Then he proceeded to do what many Mormon's do: He worked on tracking down his family history.
Why is that so amazing? Because he went all the way back to the 1700's for Grandpa Harry's father's line. And to the 1600's for Grandpa Harry's mother's line!!! It's just astounding to look at that document, page by page...
I wish the family tree that our parents had helped with (and used to have) hadn't been lost years ago. Because we're a lot more skimpy with details on my Dad's side of the family. Actually, we have a lot for Grandma May, but almost nothing for Grandpa Ed. And it's light for Grandma Elsie, too, so far.
Marilyn and I are getting ready to do DNA tests (a friend bought them for us on sale -- Marilyn's paying for them). He's a member at Ancestry.Com. And he likes doing family trees for his friends, so he's going to help us with ours. But we needed to get him something to 'work with' first. So I started that today...
No, the materials didn't even begin to be organized or gathered in the same places. I found things all over the entire house! I've been in various rooms. I've been in drawers, file cabinets (we have several with many, many drawers), file folders, desk drawers, closets, other drawers and on and on. Looking through just tons and tons and tons of papers.
But I found a lot of things! Exciting things. I'm thinking I might even share some of here in my blog...
And I also saw a lot of delightful photos, too. I need to scan stacks of photos to make them digital, but I really want to start doing that. We have literally hundreds of photos and I wish they were all digital. It would probably take forever to go there! But many are wonderful OLD photos!
Marilyn had a pretty miserable day at work -- and she was there until after 10:00 p.m. (at least she got a lunch break). I worked until 10:00 here at home on my project, too. And we chatted while she drove home (no worries, she has blue tooth and is always careful to watch the road). So by 10:30 I was trying to come up with something for dinner. We had cut up lunch meat and cheese on crackers, which makes a nice meal for us. (It sure beats cottage cheese and potato chips!)
I had a low blood sugar incident just as she got home. I was at 59, which is very low for me. I almost inhaled an apple (including most of the core!) and some 1% strawberry milk, which helped me climb again. I did have a sandwich for lunch and a Payday candy bar in the late afternoon. Anyway...
I need to dash, as we both need to shower before heading directly to bed. Tomorrow is a very big day, with our annual Board Meeting. That's what Marilyn was working on so late.
She got bad news today. Jillian had to resign as her assistant. Her husband got a new job and their family is moving. Jillian felt terrible and had a hard time telling Marilyn, but there's no way around it. She even considered staying here and letting her husband move without her for work, but it just doesn't make sense for them. We're certainly going to miss her!
She had some other bad moments during the day. I feel bad about that. I doubt I could have been any help at the office today, though. If I'd been there, I would have focused on my own IT stuff, so... But I wish I could have helped her. (I always wish that.)
Anyway, there are some options for Marilyn to consider for replacements, so I'm sure it's going to be just fine. These things have a way of working out. Jillian was a great match for Marilyn (they really got along well), plus she was great at her job. But I tend to believe there's a reason these sorts of things happen...
I really need to wrap this up. So I'll have to share more later on.
If you're NOT that interested in your family tree right now, I'd still suggest you discuss some of the details with your family members while they're alive and able to help you! And make them WRITE ON THE BACK of your family photos! I really wish we'd done that! There are so many pictures that we'll never be able to identify. It's such a shame. SOME DAY YOU'LL CARE.
Okay, maybe you'll never care. But the odds are that as you get older you'll really want to know more. And maybe you're someone younger who wants to know right now! Good for you. Because it's valuable information.
I want MORE than the family tree. I want to know more about all of these people!!! And to match up some photos with the names, if I can. We are blessed with a lot of photos, that's for sure...
On that note, I'm off. Good night, everyone!
To be clear, at one point the family had joined together to gather the information to create a family tree. I know Mom was very involved with it, but from the notes I've discovered, it was very much a joint effort. I can't even guess who all helped with it.
But I admire that my Grandma Elsie kept some very good notes on the Anderson family (my Grandpa Harry's family). These are Mom's parents, for the record. And Grandpa Harry's brother Oscar became a Mormon, changing his name to George Naseath. Then he proceeded to do what many Mormon's do: He worked on tracking down his family history.
Why is that so amazing? Because he went all the way back to the 1700's for Grandpa Harry's father's line. And to the 1600's for Grandpa Harry's mother's line!!! It's just astounding to look at that document, page by page...
I wish the family tree that our parents had helped with (and used to have) hadn't been lost years ago. Because we're a lot more skimpy with details on my Dad's side of the family. Actually, we have a lot for Grandma May, but almost nothing for Grandpa Ed. And it's light for Grandma Elsie, too, so far.
Marilyn and I are getting ready to do DNA tests (a friend bought them for us on sale -- Marilyn's paying for them). He's a member at Ancestry.Com. And he likes doing family trees for his friends, so he's going to help us with ours. But we needed to get him something to 'work with' first. So I started that today...
No, the materials didn't even begin to be organized or gathered in the same places. I found things all over the entire house! I've been in various rooms. I've been in drawers, file cabinets (we have several with many, many drawers), file folders, desk drawers, closets, other drawers and on and on. Looking through just tons and tons and tons of papers.
But I found a lot of things! Exciting things. I'm thinking I might even share some of here in my blog...
And I also saw a lot of delightful photos, too. I need to scan stacks of photos to make them digital, but I really want to start doing that. We have literally hundreds of photos and I wish they were all digital. It would probably take forever to go there! But many are wonderful OLD photos!
Marilyn had a pretty miserable day at work -- and she was there until after 10:00 p.m. (at least she got a lunch break). I worked until 10:00 here at home on my project, too. And we chatted while she drove home (no worries, she has blue tooth and is always careful to watch the road). So by 10:30 I was trying to come up with something for dinner. We had cut up lunch meat and cheese on crackers, which makes a nice meal for us. (It sure beats cottage cheese and potato chips!)
I had a low blood sugar incident just as she got home. I was at 59, which is very low for me. I almost inhaled an apple (including most of the core!) and some 1% strawberry milk, which helped me climb again. I did have a sandwich for lunch and a Payday candy bar in the late afternoon. Anyway...
I need to dash, as we both need to shower before heading directly to bed. Tomorrow is a very big day, with our annual Board Meeting. That's what Marilyn was working on so late.
She got bad news today. Jillian had to resign as her assistant. Her husband got a new job and their family is moving. Jillian felt terrible and had a hard time telling Marilyn, but there's no way around it. She even considered staying here and letting her husband move without her for work, but it just doesn't make sense for them. We're certainly going to miss her!
She had some other bad moments during the day. I feel bad about that. I doubt I could have been any help at the office today, though. If I'd been there, I would have focused on my own IT stuff, so... But I wish I could have helped her. (I always wish that.)
Anyway, there are some options for Marilyn to consider for replacements, so I'm sure it's going to be just fine. These things have a way of working out. Jillian was a great match for Marilyn (they really got along well), plus she was great at her job. But I tend to believe there's a reason these sorts of things happen...
I really need to wrap this up. So I'll have to share more later on.
If you're NOT that interested in your family tree right now, I'd still suggest you discuss some of the details with your family members while they're alive and able to help you! And make them WRITE ON THE BACK of your family photos! I really wish we'd done that! There are so many pictures that we'll never be able to identify. It's such a shame. SOME DAY YOU'LL CARE.
Okay, maybe you'll never care. But the odds are that as you get older you'll really want to know more. And maybe you're someone younger who wants to know right now! Good for you. Because it's valuable information.
I want MORE than the family tree. I want to know more about all of these people!!! And to match up some photos with the names, if I can. We are blessed with a lot of photos, that's for sure...
On that note, I'm off. Good night, everyone!