Days Of Our Lives

Sorry to those of you who stumble across this thinking I am blogging about your favorite soap, but alas it is not meant to be.

In today's blog it refers to the day to day things that go on in our lives. The things that make us who we are, the memories, family, the things that matter...

I was thinking about this last night, Eric was here with his boys, Mandi came by with Jonathon. We were all playing the wii. Watching Nick, Eric's oldest boy learning to bowl on the wii. What a riot it was watching him master that controller - He kept telling us he wanted to "bowl like grandpa"... we wont' go into the details on Mark's bowling, but it was just so cute watching him as he tried to emulate Mark's bowling style.

The reason this comes to mind in a genealogy blog is that our ancestors, like Nick, are so much more than just names & dates. They were at one time living people. People who liked church potlucks, tv, gardening, and much more.

It seems to me, after reading so many "family histories" that so many people get focused on the birth & death dates that they loose sight of all the great stuff in between. The love stories, the everyday things that make us who we are. The wild ones that I research with call this COLOR.

I remember waking one day, to find that while I was sleeping Mark had gone into our genealogy software and recorded his view of our love story. How we met, how our courtship progressed, our marriage - hopefully one day our descendants down the road will read this & see the side of us that maybe they don't see everyday.

I've been trying to bring my ancestors to life by adding things like some of my grandmothers favorite recipes to her notes, antedotes about my grandparents from memories of my older living relatives, little things that set that person apart from the other people that see every day. My grandmothers both loved to cook & sew, I've included pictures of the things they had sewn also in notes.

The past year has been one of historical significance in our country. Have we taken the time to record our political observations for future generations to read? I sure wish some of my ancestors had given their views on the politics of their time somewhere for me to read. I'd have loved to hear what they thought. I can only imagine what my confederate ancestors would have thought of the outcome of the last election - I can only imagine what their thoughts would be on me, a southern born & bred living here in the land of Yanks - and married to one to boot.

I encourage you today to take the time to explore the days of your lives, and those of your ancestors days. Record the days of their lives & yours. Your love story, Your life story. Its on going story that really never ends...

Trust me! You'll be so glad you did!
Karen

(Just as a side note I do have a talk that follows this thread - Color Your Ancestor Alive! If you are a librarian or program director and have an interest in having this talk presented to your group - email me. )